Attitudes to transport modes for shopping purposes in Singapore

Abstract

A review of the retailing and transportation literature shows that there is an apparently large research gap in the understanding of shoppers' attitudes towards transport modes for shopping purposes. In particular, not many studies have been done to examine shoppers' detailed and disaggregated attitudinal image structures of the various transport modes for shopping purposes. Using Singapore as a study area, this paper has attempted to investigate shoppers' image structure of transport modes and their comparative perception ratings for the various modes of transportation for shopping purposes. Using principal component analysis, the research has unveiled the perceptions of five transport modes for shopping purposes. While some of the factors are unique to certain transport modes, other factors, namely 'suitability', 'practicality', 'ease of travel' and 'cost', are common to all modes of transportation. By way of the weighted-factor rating, the study found that the car recorded the highest overall perception rating while the bus rated the lowest. In addition, the shoppers have reasonably good perception of public transport modes in Singapore. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Ltd.