Exploring Consumer Preferences for Shared Mobility Services in the Big Cities of Europe Socio- Economic and Sustainability Concerns in the Era of Covid-19

ABSTRACT

The perception of sharing good and services is constantly changing around the world, especially in urban agglomerations. With any smartphone connected to the internet, at just few finger taps away, ridesharing has never been more facile for consumers. While it ensures the rapid development of the sharing economy, the collaborative consumption of transportation services raises new socio-economic and environmental challenges, making big cities the subject of the new sustainable mobility paradigm. In this context, the objective of this research was to analyze consumer preferences for shared mobility services in the case of a selection of big European cities and connect these findings with the potential of shared mobility services to shift consumption models towards a more sustainable future. Furthermore, consumer preferences were also analyzed in relation with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the development potential of the sharing economy, with a focus on the transport sector. This paper was aimed at filling a literature gap by providing a comprehensive description of consumer preferences for shared mobility services with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic context. Moreover, population density and the degree of sustainable development were variables taken into consideration in this study, as well as factors specific to the consumers of shared mobility services age, gender, nationality and other relevant characteristics of the consumer digital profile. Findings suggest divergent consumer behaviors according to the characteristics of each of the analyzed European big city the transportation infrastructure, degree of urbanization and level of wellbeing.