The intention of adopting collaborative carpooling platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis: Proposal of a conceptual model

Abstract

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis, several economic sectors have been impacted, particularly transportation and mobility. Economic and marketing research in this period of crisis has largely focused on examining several themes, with little attention paid to other innovations in collaborative consumption. The purpose of our paper is to propose a conceptual model that aims at theoretically examining the intent of the adoption of carpooling platforms during the pandemic crisis through the integration of two theoretical models, namely, the technology acceptance model and the theory of innovation diffusion. Innovation diffusion theory is a well-established theory to explain how innovation diffuses in an environment (Wang et al., 2012), while the technology acceptance model has been widely used in several disciplines to study how individuals accept the adoption of new technologies (Kim, 2016; Morosan & DeFranco, 2014). However, while the similarities between the two theories have been recognized and the literature has linked the two to understand consumer technology adoption behavior (Lee et al., 2011), few studies that have integrated these two theories from the consumer's perspective. The theoretical model proposed by this research work suggests that compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, observability, and social influence will influence both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which in turn will explain attitude toward adoption, and finally, attitude will influence consumers' intention toward adoption of ride-sharing platforms. This study will fill the theoretical knowledge gap by focusing on the adoption behavior of online ridesharing platforms.

JEL Classification : M31

Paper type: Theoretical Research