MASS TRANSIT DECISION-MAKING MARKET SEGMENTATION: A PILOT STUDY

This report describes and then applies what is considered to be a tenable alternative to existing methods of mass transit market segmentation. The approach capitalizes on a resource of findings which have emerged from the modeling of human decision making in psychology over the past fifteen years, which shows potential of being of considerable utility in understanding consumer choice behavior. The resource, known as the theory of information integration, represents the core of the methodological approach posited here. This approach represents a new way of viewing transit market segments by providing both a theoretical basis for segmentation strategies, something to which existing approaches are insensitive, and a means for estimating the elasticities of the various segments with respect to changes in the transit system. An experiment is reported in which decision-making segments were derived from a population of 62 University of Iowa undergraduates. An attempt was then made to discriminate among these groups based on a set of socioeconomic and travel characteristics of the sample. The results of the experiment as well as implications of the research for mass transit planning and marketing are discussed. /Author/

• Corporate Authors:

  University of Iowa, Iowa City

  Institute of Urban and Regional Research
  Iowa City, IA  United States  52242
• Authors:
  • Koutsopoulos, K C
  • Meyer, R
• Publication Date: 1976-6

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 24 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Choice models; Consumers; Decision making; Elasticity (Mechanics); Information management; Information, data, and knowledge; Integrated systems; Markets; Pilot studies; Public transit; Socioeconomic factors; Transportation planning; Travel patterns
• Uncontrolled Terms: Integration
• Old TRIS Terms: Pilot study; Segmentation
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00167861
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Technical Report 69
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 7 1981 12:00AM