An extended theory of planned behavior to explain the intention to use carsharing: a multi-group analysis of different sociodemographic characteristics

Carsharing represents an alternative to private vehicles and is becoming internationally recognized as a method of sustainable transportation. Compared with the United States and countries in Europe, carsharing services in China started later and were initially underwhelming. With the revival and popularity of the sharing economy, carsharing has been thriving in China in recent years but remains in an initial stage. Understanding the determinants of people’s intentions to carshare is critical for the promotion of carsharing services. The theoretical framework of this research is an expanded version of the theory of planned behavior containing environmental concern. A questionnaire was created to empirically test the model and a total of 1165 valid surveys were collected in four new first-tier cities in China. The intention to use carsharing was found to be directly affected by attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control rather than environmental concern. However, people’s environmental concern was verified as indirectly impacting their intentions to use carsharing through attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. In addition, this study also tested the moderating effect of car ownership, age, gender and income by adopting a multi-group analysis. The results confirm the moderating effect of car ownership and gender on people’s intention to use carsharing, revealing the differences that exist between people with private cars and those without as well as the differences between the male and female gender. The moderating effects of age and income on people’s intention to use carsharing were found to be insignificant. These findings provide practical insights for carsharing organizations and transportation departments. The limitations of this study and suggestions for further research are also discussed.