Download lifestyle - Netwerk Duurzame Mobiliteit

On travel behaviour, lifestyles,
and sustainable urban mobility
Professor Frank Witlox, PhD
Ghent University, Department of Geography
University of Tartu, Department of Geography
Dr. Veronique Van Acker, PhD
Luxembourg Institute for Socio-Economic Research
Krijgslaan 281 (S8), 9000 Gent, Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)9/264.45.53 – Fax: +32 (0)9/264.49.85
Email: [email protected]
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Travel demand rises (quasi) continuous …
Traveling distance per person per full day, 1800–2000, France (excluding walking)
(Grübler, 2004)
1985 : 285,000 private vehicles on the roads in China; 2010 : 59,400,000 (x 208 in 25 years)
Meanwhile at the toll gates of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao expressway at the end of
the “Golden Week” (= 7 day holiday period, 750 million people are on the move)
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A S I F principle (Dalkmann & Brannigan, 2007)
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4 A’s of sustainable transport (Macharis, 2004)
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Avoid or reduce travel or the need to travel (cf. Banister’s sustainable
mobility paradigm)
Shift to more environmentally friendly modes
Improve/mitigate the energy efficiency of transport modes and
vehicule technology
Finance
Awareness
Act and shift
Avoidance
Anticipation
(Actor involvement)
Instruments
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•
•
•
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Planning (P)
Regulatory (R)
Economic (E)
Information (I)
Technological (T)
 TOWARDS MORE SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR …
‘Why do people travel ?’
- Q : “why did the chicken cross the road?”
- A : “to get to the other side”
Mokhtarian et al., 2015, Transport Reviews
‘Why do people travel ?’
- Q : “why did the chicken cross the road?”
- A : “to get to the other side”
 travel is a derived demand (demand for travel is
derived from the demand for spatially-separated
activities)
 travel is a disutility, that people try to minimize
 BUT travel is also intrinsically desirable...
‘Why do people travel ?’
 BUT travel is also intrinsically desirable
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
escape
exercise, physical/mental therapy
curiosity, variety-, adventure-seeking, conquest
sensation of speed or even just movement
exposure to the environment, information
enjoyment of a route, not just a destination
ability to control movement skillfully
symbolic value (status, independence)
buffer between activities, synergy with multiple
activities
– ...
‘How can we reduce travel ?’
 we can reduce travel by …
-making it more expensive
*congestion pricing, fuel taxes, parking pricing
-bringing activities closer together
*increasing density and mixture of land uses
-using ICT to conduct the activity remotely
*telecommuting, e-conferences, e-shopping, e-education,
e-medicine, e-justice, e-banking, e-logistics, …
 behavioural/attitudinal change  a change in lifestyle ?
What factors determine why and how we move ?
1 socio-demographic factors:
e.g. age, gender, household type, labour partication, …
2 spatial factors:
e.g. density, distance to PT, home-work travel, home-school,
home-shopping, …
3 economic and welfare factors:
e.g. income, fuel prices, car ownership, …
4 psychological factors:
e.g. lifestyle, attitude, status, experience, appreciation, …
 shift towards including more ‘subjective/soft’ factors in addition to
the traditionally used ‘objective/hard’ factors (price and cost) to explain
travel behaviour
Impact of “lifestyle” researched in different domains
10,956 articles in web-of-science (1956-2016) containing “lifestyle*”, “life
style*” or “life-style*” in the title (14/01/2016)
20,0%
15,7%
15,0%
10,0%
8,8%
7,8%
7,5%
6,3%
5,0%
4,2%
4,0%
3,8%
3,6%
3,3%
0,4%
0,0%
 Lifestyles have different meanings, are measured/used differently, …
Incorporating lifestyle concept in travel behaviour
Salomon (1980); Salomon & Ben-Akiva (1983); Kitamura
(1989, 2009) in the framework of activity-based travel
modelling studies
Q1. Are lifestyles really
long-term decisions ?
Q2. Update to other fields
of interest (e.g. health,
well-being, …) ?
Incorporating lifestyle concept in travel behaviour
Incorporation of ‘the’ / ‘a’ lifestyle concept:
How are lifestyles, residential location, car ownership
and travel behavior related to each other, taking into
account the socio-economic and socio-demographic
characteristics of the individual and his/her family?
Lifestyle
SED variables
Built environment
Travel behaviour
Car ownership
Van Acker et al. (2011) Transport Reviews
Basic question: how to define lifestyle concept
Pragmatic approach: health, consumer & marketing research
“The constellation of habitual activities unique to a person, which lend consistency to activities, behaviour, manners of coping,
motivation, and thought processes, and define the way in which he/she lives; lifestyle activities include diet, level of physical
activity; substance abuse; social and personal interactions.” (Segen’s Medical Dictionary, 2011)
“Lifestyle is expressed in both work and leisure behaviour patterns and (on an individual basis) in activities, attitudes,
interests, opinions, values, and allocation of income. It also reflects people’s self image or self-concept; the way they see
themselves and believe they are seen by the others. Lifestyle is a composite of motivations, needs, and wants and is
influenced by factors such as culture, family, reference groups, and social class. The analysis of consumer life styles (called
psychographics) is an important factor in determining how consumers make their purchase decisions.”
(www.businessdictionary.com)
 field of psychoanalytics, Alfred W. Adler (1933)
 lifestyle relates to motives, personality traits, interests, attitudes, and values
 cluster analyses, market segmention, very data-dependent, each new study found new
lifestyles
 lack of theoretical basis (>< work of sociologists like Max Weber, Pierre Bourdieu)
Mitchell A. (1983) The nine American Lifestyles. New York: Warner
Basic question: how to define lifestyle concept
Theoretical approach: sociology
Max Weber (1922) – Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft
Pierre Bourdieu (1979) – La Distinction
behaviour is not always based on what someone produces, but also on what someone consumes
(cultural/symbolic)
through these consumption patterns, that person tries to elucidate his/her social status/position
next to an economic dimension, there is a cultural dimension
Harry Ganzeboom (1988) – Leefstijlen in Nederland
Gerhard Schulze (1992) – Die Erlebnisgesellschaft
lifestyles should not be considered as unambiguous types, but rather as a continuum
lifestyles are determined by:
- economic dimension
- cultural dimension
- stage-of-life
- spatial dimension (leisure consumption tends to occur outside of the house in specific places,
attracting a congenial group sharing similar lifestyles  “scenes”)
Basic question: how to measure lifestyle concept
Sociodemographic
approach
sociodemographic
characteristics
Psychographic marketing
Psychographic Cultural
Sociographic
approach
approach
approach
individual
norms and
socio-cultural
differences
values
trends
Mechanistic
approach
Study object
individual
individual
sociodemographic
data
sociodemographic
clusters
(stage of life,
household
composition)
individual
‘the cultural
man’
common
norms, values
individual
Data
individual
‘the wishing
personality’
personality
traits, motives
behaviour
diverse
focus on
individual
differences,
no focus on
models or
typologies
cultural
clusters,
“community”
association
behaviour –
demography, …
nonhierarchical
lifestyle
groups,
context
related
Basic concept
Research results
Pisman (2012)
individual
‘the social
man’
Individual
opinions and
attitudes
social clusters,
trendsetters,
minorities
living conditions
Poststructural
approach
individual
choices
Geographic
approach
relation between
individual and
spatial
characteristics
individuals and
their spatial
neighbourhoods
diverse
geographical
submarkets,
neighbourhoods
Basic question: how to measure lifestyle concept
Sociodemographic
approach
sociodemographic
characteristics
Psychographic marketing
Psychographic Cultural
Sociographic
approach
approach
approach
individual
norms and
socio-cultural
differences
values
trends
Mechanistic
approach
Study object
individual
individual
sociodemographic
data
sociodemographic
clusters
(stage of life,
household
composition)
individual
‘the cultural
man’
common
norms, values
individual
Data
individual
‘the wishing
personality’
personality
traits, motives
behaviour
diverse
focus on
individual
differences,
no focus on
models or
typologies
cultural
clusters,
“community”
association
behaviour –
demography, …
nonhierarchical
lifestyle
groups,
context
related
Basic concept
Research results
individual
‘the social
man’
Individual
opinions and
attitudes
social clusters,
trendsetters,
minorities
living conditions
Poststructural
approach
individual
choices
Geographic
approach
relation between
individual and
spatial
characteristics
individuals and
their spatial
neighbourhoods
diverse
geographical
submarkets,
neighbourhoods
(1) Lifestyle  behaviour patterns (consumption, leisure, activity, time-use), a way of living, a
“condition of existence and a manner of being”
Basic question: how to measure lifestyle concept
Sociodemographic
approach
sociodemographic
characteristics
Psychographic marketing
Psychographic Cultural
Sociographic
approach
approach
approach
individual
norms and
socio-cultural
differences
values
trends
Mechanistic
approach
Study object
individual
individual
sociodemographic
data
sociodemographic
clusters
(stage of life,
household
composition)
individual
‘the cultural
man’
common
norms, values
individual
Data
individual
‘the wishing
personality’
personality
traits, motives
behaviour
diverse
focus on
individual
differences,
no focus on
models or
typologies
cultural
clusters,
“community”
association
behaviour –
demography, …
nonhierarchical
lifestyle
groups,
context
related
Basic concept
Research results
individual
‘the social
man’
Individual
opinions and
attitudes
social clusters,
trendsetters,
minorities
living conditions
Poststructural
approach
individual
choices
Geographic
approach
relation between
individual and
spatial
characteristics
individuals and
their spatial
neighbourhoods
diverse
geographical
submarkets,
neighbourhoods
(2) Lifestyle = more than observed behaviour. We behave in a particular way, because we think in
a particular way. Link with personal thoughts, attitudes, preferences, opinions, motivation, belief
Data – Internet survey on lifestyles and leisure mobility
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Flanders (Belgium), May-October 2007
N = 2363 respondents  (data cleaning) N = 1879  (analysis) N = 1009
respondents
modal choice for active leisure activities : car = 29,8%; AT = 45,3%; PT = 3,6%; PT
+ AT = 4,3%; car + PT and/or AT = 17,0%
mainly highly educated
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location respondent
highway
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30 Km
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Methods
- Measuring lifestyles = factor analysis
- Direct effects of lifestyles on car use = probit regressions
- Direct and indirect effects lifestyles on car use = structural equation models
(path models)
Measuring lifestyles
Sociographic lifestyle approach (relating to family-work balance and leisure)
factor loadings between -0,200 and 0,200 are not reported
Measuring lifestyles
Sociographic lifestyle approach (relating to family-work balance and leisure)
factor loadings between -0,200 and 0,200 are not reported
Measuring lifestyles
cultural
stage-of-life
economic
Mechanistic lifestyle approach (relating to holidays, literary interests,
spending time during the weekend)
Direct effects of lifestyles on car use
all non significant …
Direct and indirect effects of lifestyles on car use
Direct effects of lifestyles appeared limited, non-significant, negligible…
What with direct and indirect effects? After all, the interaction between long-term
lifestyle, medium-term residential location and car ownership decisions, and
short-term travel behaviour is much more complex.
Direct and indirect effects of lifestyles on car use
Results of path analysis of car use by lifestyle approach
Direct and indirect effects of lifestyles on car use
Decomposition of the significant indirect effects on care use by lifestyle approach
Direct and indirect effects of lifestyles on car use
Path diagram of significant direct effects
Conclusion
1. limited direct
influence of lifestyles
on modal choices
2. no important
statistical differences
across two lifestyle
approaches
• … in some cases more
indirectly through decisions
related to residential
location and car ownership
• … but no “huge”
improvements in modelling
terms
• … but each lifestyle
approach tells a different
story
• … except the sociographic
lifestyle approach
3. travel behavior is
not only explained by
means of socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and
spatial variables but
also through lifestyles
(we think, how would
we otherwise be able
to explain this …)
Daytona Beach, Florida, 1967
Avenues for further research
Lifestyle approaches provide useful insights into travel choices because
they are not simply made by considering prices, speed, and comfort, but
are also related to social relationships, attitudes, status, preferences, and
constraints at various levels.
• How can transitions in family composition and lifestyle be best
exploited in order to change mobility behavior?
• What are the long-term effects of real-world sustainable transport
initiatives on lifestyles and behavior, particularly when individuals
experience changes in personal circumstances?
• How does lifestyle condition the choice of travel behavior?
• To what extent can lifestyles be modified to promote more sustainable
patterns of transport?
Thank you very much for
your attention !
[email protected]
Useful references
VAN ACKER, V., B. VAN WEE & F. WITLOX (2010) “When transport geography meets social
psychology: toward a conceptual model of travel behaviour”. Transport Reviews. 30 (2),
pp. 219-240.
VAN ACKER, V., MOKHTARIAN, P. L., & WITLOX, F. (2011). Going soft: On how subjective
variables explain modal choices for leisure travel. European Journal of Transport and
Infrastructure Research. 11 (2), 115-146.
VAN ACKER, V., P.L. MOKHTARIAN & F. WITLOX (2014) “Car availability explained by the
structural relationships between lifestyles, residential location, and underlying residential
and travel attitudes”. Transport Policy. 35, 88-99.
VAN ACKER, V. (2015) “Car use as a life style? Integrating lifestyles into travel behaviour”.
In: L. BOELENS, D. LAUWERS & F. WITLOX (Eds.) Adaptive Mobility. A new policy and
research agenda on mobility in horizontal metropolises. Groningen: InPlanning, 45-63.
VAN ACKER, V., P. GOODWIN & F. WITLOX (2016) “Key research themes on travel behavior,
lifestyle, and sustainable urban mobility”. International Journal of Sustainable
Transportation. 10 (1), 25-32.