Analyzing Travelers’ Intention to Accept Travel Information

Abstract

Advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) cannot improve the traffic environment if travelers do not accept the travel information provided by the system. To understand better why travelers accept or refuse travel information and to explain, predict, and increase travelers’ acceptance of travel information, a research framework based on the technology acceptance model is developed to establish the relationship between travelers’ intention to accept travel information, trust in travel information, perceived usefulness of travel information, perceived ease of its use, and other related variables. Then structural equation modeling is used to examine and analyze the relationship among these variables. The results show that the factors that significantly determine travelers’ intention to accept travel information are trust in travel information, its perceived usefulness, its perceived ease of use, and information attributes. Through an examination of the direct, indirect, and total effects in the model system, it is discovered that perceived ease of use has the largest total effect on intention to accept by a standardized coefficient of 0.522, followed by trust in information (0.348), perceived usefulness (0.199), and information attributes (0.079). These results indicate the practical value of the estimated model for guiding recommendations aimed at increasing travelers’ intention to accept travel information and at improving the service quality of travel information in China.