Promoting active mobility behavior by addressing information target groups: The case of Austria

Abstract

Current transport policy objectives aiming to increase active mobility can solely be achieved by changing people's mobility behavior. To arouse interest and influence the decision process of the people, adequate information sources and services as well as appropriate incentives and motivation have to be used, but they have to be target-group specific to reach people more effectively. Influencing factors such as mobility habits, attitudes towards transport modes, shared social norms and values must be considered. Since people resemble in some characteristics, methods from social sciences are applied to identify homogeneous groups of shared mobility-related information needs and to extract appropriate group-related arguments to promote active mobility (e.g. health, environment, costs, image, or adventure). The paper describes the methodological approach and the results in form of six comprehensively defined homogeneous target groups derived from 12 qualitative focus groups. Moreover, a survey among a representative sample of 1000 persons in Austria is presented. Based on the outcomes, customized concepts for each specific target group (arguments, information needs, and preferred information channels) have been developed. The concept provides a solid basis for implementing measures to promote active mobility as prerequisite for reaching transport policy objectives.