Attitudes to transport modes for shopping purposes in Singapore

Abstract

A review of the retailing and transportation literature shows that there is an apparently large research gap in the understanding of shoppers’ attitudes towards transport modes for shopping purposes. In particular, not many studies have been done to examine shoppers’ detailed and disaggregated attitudinal image structures of the various transport modes for shopping purposes. Using Singapore as a study area, this paper has attempted to investigate shoppers’ image structure of transport modes and their comparative perception ratings for the various modes of transportation for shopping purposes. Using principal component analysis, the research has unveiled the perceptions of five transport modes for shopping purposes. While some of the factors are unique to certain transport modes, other factors, namely ‘suitability’, ‘practicality’, ‘ease of travel’ and ‘cost’, are common to all modes of transportation. By way of the weighted‐factor rating, the study found that the car recorded the highest overall perception rating while the bus rated the lowest. In addition, the shoppers have reasonably good perception of public transport modes in Singapore.

Acknowledgements

The study forms a part of a PhD research project on shopping centre choice with diverse transport options. The author thanks the National University of Singapore for funding the research project. In addition, the research would not have been possible without the assistance and supervision of Professor Peter McGoldrick, Manchester School of Management, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. The valuable comments of two anonymous referees are appreciated.

Notes

Correspondence Address: Muhammad F. Ibrahim, Department of Real Estate, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566. E‐mail: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

MUHAMMAD F. IBRAHIM

Correspondence Address: Muhammad F. Ibrahim, Department of Real Estate, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566. E‐mail: [email protected]