IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v42y2010i9p2058-2077.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decisions concerning Communication Modes and the Influence of Travel Time: A Situational Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Taede Tillema

    (Department of Planning, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands)

  • Martin Dijst

    (Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80115, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands)

  • Tim Schwanen

    (Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, England)

Abstract

In this paper we examine the tradeoff between face-to-face (F2F) communication and a telephone call in the situation where people consider discussing something important but not urgent with a good friend located at a distance. In so doing we extend previous studies of communication behaviour in two ways. We develop and employ a situational approach to communication mode choice inspired by time geography and attitude theory, and we devote particular attention to the socio-psychological mechanisms driving communication mode decisions. As a consequence, we can analyse the effects of travel time in the physical world on communication choices via and in combination with those of a person's attitudes, perceptions, desires, and past behaviours. Our data collected from Dutch single-earner and dual-earner households suggest that travel time mediates the effects of goal desire, past behaviour, and perceived time pressure. When the travel time increases, respondents with a strong desire to discuss something important but not urgent trade a preference for F2F contact for a telephone conversation. Those who have frequently used the telephone in a similar situation before have a lower intention to conduct an F2F conversation but only when the travel time is short. Finally, we see that time-pressured respondents are more inclined to use the telephone when the travel time is longer, presumably because F2F communication involves more time in that situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Taede Tillema & Martin Dijst & Tim Schwanen, 2010. "Decisions concerning Communication Modes and the Influence of Travel Time: A Situational Approach," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(9), pages 2058-2077, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:9:p:2058-2077
    DOI: 10.1068/a4325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a4325
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a4325?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juan Carrasco & Eric Miller, 2006. "Exploring the propensity to perform social activities: a social network approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 463-480, September.
    2. Taede Tillema & Tim Schwanen & Martin Dijst, 2009. "Communicating something confidential while travelling by train: the use of a telephone conversation versus silent modes," Transportation, Springer, vol. 36(5), pages 541-564, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gafter, Lee M. & Tchetchik, Anat, 2017. "The role of social ties and communication technologies in visiting friends tourism- A GMM simultaneous equations approach," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 343-353.

    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. Di Ciommo, Floridea & Comendador, Julio & López-Lambas, María Eugenia & Cherchi, Elisabetta & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2014. "Exploring the role of social capital influence variables on travel behaviour," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 46-55.
    2. Miguel Picornell & Tomás Ruiz & Maxime Lenormand & José Ramasco & Thibaut Dubernet & Enrique Frías-Martínez, 2015. "Exploring the potential of phone call data to characterize the relationship between social network and travel behavior," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 647-668, July.
    3. Alalwan, Ali Abdallah & Baabdullah, Abdullah M. & Rana, Nripendra P. & Tamilmani, Kuttimani & Dwivedi, Yogesh K., 2018. "Examining adoption of mobile internet in Saudi Arabia: Extending TAM with perceived enjoyment, innovativeness and trust," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 100-110.
    4. Aguiléra, Anne & Guillot, Caroline & Rallet, Alain, 2012. "Mobile ICTs and physical mobility: Review and research agenda," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 664-672.
    5. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen & Zhou, Meng, 2018. "Residential relocation and changes in travel behavior: what is the role of social context change?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 360-374.
    6. Parady, Giancarlos & Frei, Andreas & Kowald, Matthias & Guidon, Sergio & Wicki, Michael & van den Berg, Pauline & Carrasco, Juan-Antonio & Arentze, Theo & Timmermans, Harry & Wellman, Barry & Takami, , 2021. "A comparative study of social interaction frequencies among social network members in five countries," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    7. Timo Ohnmacht, 2009. "Social-Activity Travel: Do the ‘Strong-Tie Relationships’ of a Person Exist in the Same Community? The Case of Switzerland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(12), pages 3003-3022, December.
    8. Roy, P. & Martínez, A.J. & Miscione, G. & Zuidgeest, M.H.P. & van Maarseveen, M.F.A.M., 2012. "Using Social Network Analysis to profile people based on their e-communication and travel balance," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 111-122.
    9. Ettema, Dick & Zwartbol, Danielle, 2013. "The structure of joint leisure trips: analyzing two-person leisure trips of Dutch students," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 216-225.
    10. Farber, Steven & Páez, Antonio, 2009. "My car, my friends, and me: a preliminary analysis of automobility and social activity participation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 216-225.
    11. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen, 2015. "Tradeoffs between in- and out-of-residential neighborhood locations for discretionary activities and time use: do social contexts matter?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 119-127.
    12. Yoon, Seo Youn & Ravulaparthy, Srinath K. & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2014. "Dynamic diurnal social taxonomy of urban environments using data from a geocoded time use activity-travel diary and point-based business establishment inventory," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 3-17.
    13. Wang, Donggen & Lin, Tao, 2013. "Built environments, social environments, and activity-travel behavior: a case study of Hong Kong," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 286-295.
    14. Pauline Van den Berg & Astrid Kemperman & Boy De Kleijn & Aloys Borgers, 2015. "Locations that Support Social Activity Participation of the Aging Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, August.
    15. Steven Farber & Tijs Neutens & Juan-Antonio Carrasco & Carolina Rojas, 2014. "Social Interaction Potential and the Spatial Distribution of Face-to-Face Social Interactions," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 41(6), pages 960-976, December.
    16. Juan Antonio Carrasco & Bernie Hogan & Barry Wellman & Eric J. Miller, 2008. "Agency In Social Activity Interactions: The Role Of Social Networks In Time And Space," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 99(5), pages 562-583, December.
    17. Delmelle, Elizabeth C. & Haslauer, Eva & Prinz, Thomas, 2013. "Social satisfaction, commuting and neighborhoods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 110-116.
    18. Ketelaar, Paul E. & Janssen, Loes & Vergeer, Maurice & van Reijmersdal, Eva A. & Crutzen, Rik & van ‘t Riet, Jonathan, 2016. "The success of viral ads: Social and attitudinal predictors of consumer pass-on behavior on social network sites," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 2603-2613.
    19. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen, 2014. "Social networks and joint/solo activity–travel behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 18-31.
    20. Kathleen Deutsch & Konstadinos Goulias, 2013. "Decision makers and socializers, social networks and the role of individuals as participants," Transportation, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 755-771, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:9:p:2058-2077. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.