Investigating Factors Impacting the Use of Ride-Hailing Service Applications

Abstract

Environmental impact of modern-day transport has made citizens concerned about the footprint left by these innovations. Mobile application-based ride-hailing services, recently emerged in developing countries are regarded as technology-based innovative products to meet the growing travel demand among commuters. Technology upgrades have allowed smartphone users to access the ride-hailing services apps with ease. Ride-hailing service entered the Pakistani market in the year 2016. Since then, the demand for these services has been on the rise. Therefore, this study aims to investigate which factors have a causal relationship with travelers’ intention to use ride-hailing services in the backdrop of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Data were collected through questionnaire from 1,694 respondents at two time points. This study analyzes the hypothesized relationships with structural equation modeling in partial least square with SmartPLS 4. Results shows that environmental citizenship and perceived convenience along with UTAUT constructs have a significant effect on intention to use ride-hailing applications in the long-run, indicating causal relationships. The study extends UTAUT model with two antecedents of perceived convenience and environmental citizenship behavior.