Vol.:(0123456789)
Information Technology & Tourism (2021) 23:133–157
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-021-00194-6
1 3
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
A comparative analysis of factors infuencing millennial
travellers’ intentions to use ride‑hailing
Seojin Lee
1
· Woojin Lee
1
· Christine A. Vogt
1
· Ying Zhang
2
Received: 22 April 2020 / Revised: 23 December 2020 / Accepted: 15 January 2021 /
Published online: 27 January 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Ride-hailing services (e.g., Uber, Lyft) have drawn attention as a disruptive innova-
tion in the tourism industry as they provide a new option for transport while on vaca-
tion or a business trip. Few studies have examined how travellers perceive the value
of this new mode of transportation and modelled their intent to use ride-hailing ser-
vices. Millennial consumers are known for their early adoption of smart technolo-
gies with diferent supply chains and portable internet devices (e.g., cell phones).
This research examines the impact of perceived value on millennial travellers’
intentions to use ride-hailing services in two rapidly changing tourism economies
embracing smart phone access to transport services. Primary data were collected
with millennials located in urban universities in the US and China. Data were ana-
lysed using ordinary least squares estimates. The results revealed that price and rela-
tional value positively infuenced millennial travellers’ intentions to use ride-hailing
services in both samples. These infuences remained signifcant after controlling
for previous experiences with mobile technology, perceived safety, and regulations
for ride-hailing services. The two millennial samples, however, exhibited diferent
consumer factor infuences. While quality and perceived regulations for ride-hailing
services predicted millennial travellers’ use intentions in the US sample, previous
experience of using mobile technology infuenced travellers’ use intentions in the
Chinese sample. As companies like Uber and Lyft expand and new providers enter
the market, consumer behaviour research on perceived value can inform how busi-
ness models might difer across countries and services should be tailored for each
destination.
Keywords Sharing economy · Collaborative consumption · Mobile technology ·
Peer-to-peer market · Perceived value
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://
doi.org/10.1007/s40558-021-00194-6.
* Woojin Lee
woojin.lee.1@asu.edu
Extended author information available on the last page of the article