Car use reduction: a matter of reasoned calculus, morality or habit? An integrative perspective

Abstract

Car transportation has many benefits, yet it also generates problems such as noise and air pollution, loss of urban space, traffic jams and contributes significantly to global warming. Three approaches for explaining car use behavior and intentions to reduce it are often used in the transportation literature, namely a rational choice (e.g. theory of planned behavior), a morality-based (e.g. norm activation model) and a habit-based approach. While there were studies that investigated their comparative power, there were relatively few attempts to integrate these different perspectives in a single theoretical model. The present study proposes an integrated model of the theory of planned behavior, the norm activation model and the concept of habits to predict drivers’ intentions to reduce their car use, and tests this model on a sample of Romanian drivers (N = 140). Results show that the model performed better than the theory of planned behavior, the norm activation model or a combination of the two and that all variables in the model predicted (directly or indirectly) behavioral intentions to reduce car transportation. The strongest predictors were perceived behavioral control, personal norms and car use related habits. The results contribute to theory development and provide a conceptual framework, which can inform the development of future travel demand management solutions.