DIGITAL COMMUTING: THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL NORMATIVE FEEDBACK ON E-BIKE COMMUTING - EVIDENCE FROM A FIELD STUDY

As a consequnce of extensive urban growth, local transportation systems are facing enormous challenges, leading to massive investments in infrastructure and travel demand management measures to steer demand for specific travel modes. Meanwhile, technological advancements are creating unprecedented opportunities for collecting and utilizing travel data at previously unknown levels of detail. Such information may in the form of social normative feedback constitute a powerful tool for influncing human behaviour. Focusing on electric bicycles (e-bikes) as potentially central means of future transportation, this study evaluates whether IS-enabled social normative feedback can increase the usage of e-bikes for commuting. The results of a five-week field study and mixed effects logistic regression analysis support a positive impact of social normative feedback on e-bike commuting. We, however, also detect a negative effect on a group of participants with particularly long commuting distances, and effects of weather conditions and commuting distances on e-bike usage. Our findings add to existing research in the areas of travel mode choice, and social norms, and support policy makers in travel demand management. Ultimately, employers may view our findings as a source of inspiration for promoting the health of their employees and increasing the attractiveness of their places to work

Promoting Sustainable Travel Behavior through IS-Enabled Feedback – Short-Term Success at the Cost of Long-Term Motivation?

The shaping of sustainable future transportation systems is posing serious challenges for policy-makers today and massive investments are made into infrastructures and travel demand management. Meanwhile, Green IS research is addressing the potential of information systems as high-scale, low-cost means of influencing human actions and has successfully been applying psychological theories. However, research is still in its early stages and while positive short-term effects are relatively well understood, little is known about the long-term effects of such measures. This study, investigates the impact of an IS-enabled social normative feedback intervention on the intrinsic motivation of participants of an e-bike commuting competition. The results of a four-month field study show a negative effect of the intervention on participants’ intrinsic motivation, thus challenging long-term benefits of the measure. Additionally, our findings lend support to the reasoning of Cognitive Evaluation Theory that a dissatisfaction of participants’ need for autonomy may underlie this effect

HOW DO HEDONIC DESIGN FEATURES INFLUENCE AN APPLICATION\u27S USAGE

Mobile applications (apps) have permeated every walk of our life. This has motivated many companies to jump onto the «mobile wave» and develop specific apps for their products and services. With the growing number of apps, it has become ever more difficult for companies to arrest attention and to motivate users to continuously use the installed apps. A strategy that frequntly is followed is to «beautify» primarily utilitarian apps with hedonic design features in order to increase enjoyment. The current study therefore attempts to understand what effects do hedonic design features have on the usage of utilitarian apps. Our findings show that the implementation of hedonic design features goes along with two effects. First, the general duration how long a user uses an app is increased. Second, there is an inadvertent side effect in that hedonic design features negatively impact the usage duration of an app´s utilitarian functionality. The paper concludes with the discussion of theoretical and practical implications of these findings