Enhancing consumer satisfaction with electric vehicles, a key driver of sustainable transportation, is crucial for their widespread adoption. This study analyzes feedback from 362 early electric vehicle users, examining how the relationship between consumer expectations and actual experiences influences satisfaction through technological trust and “Mianzi” perception. We employ complex assimilation and contrast effect models to interpret the psychological mechanisms underpinning consumer satisfaction with electric vehicles. Our research identifies a significant cognitive chain in both technological trust and “Mianzi” perception, affecting consumer satisfaction. We also differentiate the roles of economic and relational compensation in satisfaction regulation. In technological trust, economic compensation can cause cognitive imbalance, while relational compensation strengthens technological trust by enhancing emotional and competence trust. Regarding “Mianzi” perception, economic compensation may trigger the Veblen effect, hindering early adoption, whereas relational compensation significantly enhances satisfaction by strengthening the emotional bond between users and vehicles. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms driving consumer satisfaction with electric vehicles and offer strategic insights for manufacturers and policymakers. By refining marketing strategies and policy measures, stakeholders can more effectively promote electric vehicle adoption and advance sustainable transportation.
The emergence of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for freight transport in recent times has created interest among practitioners and researchers to extend freight ITS to support broader logistics processes, including dynamic tour scheduling, loading and unloading, warehousing, and even production. However, connecting transport data, ITS and logistics information systems require collaboration between different organizations and new business models to create business value for logistics actors. It is critical for these stakeholders to consider how their business models connect to create meaningful new data-to-information value chains. This study develops a conceptual framework to identify opportunities for logistics value creation with freight transport data. Building on the literature we construct a framework that reconciles multi-firm and firm-level business modelling. The main component is a generalized framework for Data-to-Value (DtV) chains for applications in information and communications technology. In order to support its business validity, we extend this framework with Business Model Canvases (BMCs) of the actors in the value chain. Three real-life use cases from a freight ITS community in the Netherlands are used to evaluate and illustrate the framework.
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected freight transport. While several studies have explored the epidemic's impact on individual freight modes, a comprehensive exploration of its effects on transport modal shifts is lacking. This study addresses two inquiries: Can the pandemic catalyze freight modal shifts during its course? Additionally, how can port planners and government agencies leverage new opportunities emerging for freight transport in the post-epidemic period? Based on monthly panel data from September 2021 to August 2022 in 21 Chinese provinces, we investigate the epidemic's impact on modal shifts through difference-in-differences (DID) models, heterogeneity models, and moderating effects models. Moreover, particular emphasis is placed on spatial spillover effects, analyzed through spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) models. The findings reveal that the epidemic facilitated the modal shifts from road to waterway, but these effects are not enduring. Provinces with well-established waterway infrastructure, higher environmental consciousness, and robust policy foundations exhibit a more pronounced enhancement in modal shifts. The impact is further accentuated by lower waterway freight rates. Moreover, the epidemic manifests positive spatial spillover effects. Local outbreaks prompt freight modal shifts from road to water in neighboring provinces. The positive spillover effect primarily occurs between the affected province and its non-affected neighbors.
The rapid aging of the population poses significant challenges for social structures and economic development, with migration emerging as a key strategy for elderly individuals to enhance their social networks, quality of life, and overall well-being. This study delves into the role of high-speed rail (HSR) in facilitating intercity migration among the elderly in China, a country experiencing a pronounced demographic shift with a burgeoning aging population. By employing a Poisson regression model on unbalanced panel data from 2008 to 2017, this paper assesses the aggregate and heterogeneous effects of HSR on elderly migration, considering various migration purposes and the mediating effects of younger generation migration. The study uncovers that elderly migration is predominantly towards economically vibrant cities, with HSR significantly influencing migration patterns by improving accessibility and connectivity. The analysis reveals that the elderly migration along with their family is more influenced by accessibility improvements, while the elderly migration for work is more responsive to enhanced connectivity provided by HSR. Furthermore, the migration of younger generations moderates the positive impact of HSR on elderly migration, particularly for family and work-related migration, but not for healthcare-related migration. The insights from this study emphasize the importance of policies that encourage inter-generational migration, allowing younger and elderly family members to move together, which can help maintain family unity and reduce the social and economic pressures on cities that receive migrants. Moreover, the study advises cautious development of HSR in less prosperous areas to avoid exacerbating population loss and regional decline.