Modeling freight transportation preferences: Conjoint analysis for Turkish Region

Conjoint analysis is a very popular method used to analyze the structure of consumers' preference. This technique is usually based on stated preference technique. Stated preferences experiments present individuals with hypothetical travel scenarios and seek their preferences. This paper reports the results of a conjoint analysis experiment performed in two Turkish Regions that estimates transportation managers' preferences for freight service attributes. According to results of analysis, the possibility that firms rely on intermodal transportation rather than on road transportation is evaluated. The research project focused on freight transportation demand by cement firms in the Antalya Region, Turkey. In the analysis, data related with the cement transported from City of Eskisehir to the City of Antalya and its surrounding area by road and intermodal transportation modes were used. These data were obtained in a survey conducted in 2007 with 50 cement merchants in Antalya. The empirical results show that time reliability is an important variable determining mode choice. Valuation of cost and time are generally lower than expected.