Exploring switch tendency between cyclists and non-cyclists using market segmentation approach

Abstract

This work aimed to explore the switch tendency of bicycle use between cyclists and non-cyclists. The attitude based market segmentation approach was proposed to achieve the research objective. The filed investigations were conducted in Nanjing, China, to obtain travelers’ actions and attitudes towards bicycle uses. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the attitudinal factors indicating variables and to explore the interrelationships among them. The SEMs were developed separately for the cyclist group and the non-cyclist group. All respondents were clustered into eight distinct segments by six selected attitudinal factors. The mode switch tendency and attitude in each segment is different from others, indicating that different segments have particular policies or strategies to encourage cycling. Policy implications that best serve the potential bicycle users were discussed to reduce the number of cyclists who have high tendency to use other modes, and increase the possibility of using bicycle in the non-cyclists group with the moderate and high switch tendency.