IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v14y2025i6p1165-d1666748.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effectiveness of Behavioural Interventions on Residential Location Choices and Commute Behaviours: Experimental Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yangfanqi Liu

    (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1RX, UK)

  • Helen X. H. Bao

    (Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1RX, UK)

  • Jie Liu

    (School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China)

Abstract

This study used randomised controlled trials to test the effectiveness of three behavioural interventions, i.e., focalism, social norm, and visualisation, in changing people’s housing and commuting preferences. The experiment was conducted online via Credamo, one of the largest online panel data providers in China. It included only renters who needed to commute in the city of Xi’an, China, as participants in the study. The results show that behavioural interventions significantly increased respondents’ willingness to adopt more sustainable commute modes, such as walking or cycling, and reduced the tendency to use private cars. Among the three behavioural interventions, the social norm intervention had the largest and most significant impact. The findings shed light on the potential of applying behavioural interventions in sustainable urban transport management. More importantly, the results demonstrate the possibility of using behavioural interventions to incorporate sustainable urban development goals into housing decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Yangfanqi Liu & Helen X. H. Bao & Jie Liu, 2025. "The Effectiveness of Behavioural Interventions on Residential Location Choices and Commute Behaviours: Experimental Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1165-:d:1666748
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1165/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/6/1165/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kelcie M. Ralph & Anne E. Brown, 2019. "The role of habit and residential location in travel behavior change programs, a field experiment," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 719-734, June.
    2. Adam Rosenfield & John P. Attanucci & Jinhua Zhao, 2020. "A randomized controlled trial in travel demand management," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1907-1932, August.
    3. Abhinav Bhattacharyya & Wen Jin & Caroline Floch & Daniel G. Chatman & Joan L. Walker, 2019. "Nudging people towards more sustainable residential choice decisions: an intervention based on focalism and visualization," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 373-393, April.
    4. Richard Larouche & Ulises Charles Rodriguez & Ransimala Nayakarathna & David R. Scott, 2020. "Effect of Major Life Events on Travel Behaviours: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    5. Moody, Joanna & Zhao, Jinhua, 2019. "Car pride and its bidirectional relations with car ownership: Case studies in New York City and Houston," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 334-353.
    6. Ayako Taniguchi & Satoshi Fujii & Tomohide Azami & Haruo Ishida, 2014. "Persuasive communication aimed at public transportation-oriented residential choice and the promotion of public transport," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 75-89, January.
    7. Dieneke Van de Sompel & Liselot Hudders & Lore Vandenberghe, 2020. "Cycling for a Sustainable Future. Stimulating Children to Cycle to School via a Synergetic Combination of Informational and Behavioral Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    8. Lincoln Quillian & Hugues Lagrange, 2016. "Socioeconomic Segregation in Large Cities in France and the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1051-1084, August.
    9. Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2014. "Are Private Markets and Filtering a Viable Source of Low-Income Housing? Estimates from a "Repeat Income" Model," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 687-706, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard Larouche & Ulises Charles Rodriguez & Ransimala Nayakarathna & David R. Scott, 2020. "Effect of Major Life Events on Travel Behaviours: A Scoping Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Laura Policardo & Edgar J. Sanchez Carrera, 2024. "Effects of Wealth Inequality and Segregation on Economic Growth: An Interpretation via Luxury Asset Holdings," Working Papers - Economics wp2024_09.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    3. John P. Harding & Jing Li & Stuart S. Rosenthal & Xirui Zhang, 2022. "Forced moves and home maintenance: The amplifying effects of mortgage payment burden on underwater homeowners," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(2), pages 498-533, June.
    4. repec:osf:socarx:ph8as_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit & Gofen, Anat, 2025. "Understanding voluntary carlessness: Why outliers matter," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    6. Khan, Muhammad Salar & Jamil, Kamil & Malik, Ammar A., 2022. "Delivering Urban Mass Transit—The Case of Lahore, Pakistan," SocArXiv 2zj8m, Center for Open Science.
    7. Rancière, Romain & Ouazad, Amine, 2015. "Structural Demand Estimation with Borrowing Constraints," CEPR Discussion Papers 10866, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Mense, Andreas, 2020. "The Impact of New Housing Supply on the Distribution of Rents," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224569, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Feuillet, Thierry & Bulteau, Julie & Dantan, Sophie, 2021. "Modelling context-specific relationships between neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and private car use," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Godechot, Olivier & Apascaritei, Paula & Boza, István & Henriksen, Lasse Folke & Hermansen, Are Skeie & Hou, Feng & Kodama, Naomi & Křížková, Alena & Jung, Jiwook & Elvira, Marta M. & Melzer, Silvia M, 2020. "The great separation: Top earner segregation at work in high-income countries," MaxPo Discussion Paper Series 20/3, Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo).
    11. Mense, Andreas, 2025. "The impact of new housing supply on the distribution of rents," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127192, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Liu, Liyi & McManus, Doug & Yannopoulos, Elias, 2022. "Geographic and temporal variation in housing filtering rates," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    13. Gregory Verdugo & Sorana Toma, 2018. "Can Public Housing Decrease Segregation? Lessons and Challenges From Non-European Immigration in France," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1803-1828, October.
    14. Johansson Rehn, Henrik & Olsson, Lars E. & Friman, Margareta, 2024. "A framework of routine transitions in daily travel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    15. Geoffrey K. Turnbull & Arno J. van der Vlist, 2023. "After the Boom: Transitory and Legacy Effects of Foreclosures," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(2), pages 422-442, February.
    16. Harding, John P. & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2017. "Homeownership, housing capital gains and self-employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 120-135.
    17. Brian Asquith & Evan Mast & Davin Reed, 2019. "Supply Shock Versus Demand Shock: The Local Effects of New Housing in Low-Income Areas," Upjohn Working Papers 19-316, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    18. Mira Frick & Ryota Iijima & Yuhta Ishii, 2018. "Dispersed Behavior and Perceptions in Assortative Societies," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2128R3, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, revised Jun 2022.
    19. Divya Singh, 2020. "Do Property Tax Incentives for New Construction Spur Gentrification? Evidence from New York City," 2020 Papers psi856, Job Market Papers.
    20. Mense, Andreas, 2021. "Secondary housing supply," FAU Discussion Papers in Economics 05/2021, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Economics.
    21. Czurylo, Todd, 2023. "The effect of tax increment financing districts on job creation in Chicago," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:6:p:1165-:d:1666748. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.