Examining the influence of social norms on orderly parking behavior of dockless bike-sharing users

Abstract

Abstract With the rapid global expansion of dockless shared bicycles, disorderly parking has not only generated convenience to users but also negative consequences to enterprises and urban management. We proposed an integrated model and recruited 1722 participants from diverse professions and geographic locations in China, examining the influence of individual and social environmental factors on orderly parking behavior. It was shown that descriptive social norms played an important role in shaping user’s attitudes toward orderly parking directly and indirectly via personal norms, and thus influence the behavioral intention of orderly parking. Cultural tightness-looseness further moderated the effect of descriptive social norms. At the individual level, antecedents of personal norms (moral awareness, awareness of consequences, and ascription of responsibility) were investigated based on Norm Activation Model. This study indicates that descriptive social norms can act as a complimentary policy and regulations of dockless bike-sharing, which provides valuable insights on urban operation and policy making concerning shared bicycles.