Pedaling towards sustainability: a mixed-method study of the drivers and barriers to bike-sharing adoption

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the motivations and barriers behind the adoption of bike-sharing services, explore the influence of individual values and environmental knowledge on bike-sharing adoption and analyze the relationship between reasons, attitude and intention to utilize bike-sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe study initially conducted a semi-structured interview with 19 bike-sharing users and performed a thematic analysis to identify the context-specific motivators and barriers. The identified factors were then incorporated into the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT) framework and quantitatively examined using the data gathered from 412 Indian bike-sharing users.FindingsThe findings outlined the complex reasoning process underlying bike-sharing adoption and how environmental value and attitude are related to the reasons. Further, the study examined the moderating impact of environmental knowledge, which was overlooked in previous studies.Practical implicationsThe study provides valuable suggestions to bike-sharing businesses, which helps them to induce facilitators and remove barriers.Originality/valueBehavioral research in bike-sharing is in its embryonic stage. This is one of the initial attempts to address this knowledge deficit by comprehensively examining the factors affecting bike-sharing intention through the theoretical lens of BRT.