What makes consumers reuse ride-hailing services? An investigation of Egyptian consumers’ attitudes towards ride-hailing apps

Abstract

Despite ride-hailing apps' global popularity as a form of sharing economy, few studies have investigated consumers’ attitudes and continued usage intentions towards these apps in developing countries, particularly in Egypt. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore Egyptian consumers’ continued ride-hailing apps usage intention, as well as factors forming their attitudes toward these apps. Moreover, the study investigates the moderation role of age, gender, and income. To achieve this aim, this study integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the innovation diffusion theory (IDT), along with two personal characteristics, including personal innovativeness and environmental awareness. To test the proposed research model, data were collected online from 379 existing ride-hailing service users in Egypt. Then, Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilised to analyse the collected data and test the research hypotheses. The results confirm that consumers’ attitudes are critical predictors of their continuance intentions to use ride-hailing apps. Furthermore, the results indicate that consumers’ attitudes towards ride-hailing apps are determined by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence, perceived risk, perceived enjoyment, compatibility, interactivity, and personal innovativeness. However, the study shows that observability and environmental awareness do not play a significant role in forming consumers’ attitudes towards ride-hailing apps. Moreover, gender and age differences exist in terms of the strength of certain relationships. The research results provide transportation network companies (TNCs) with valuable suggestions on how to understand their current consumers’ needs. Thus, they can improve their platforms to satisfy their consumers’ expectations.