Research on Consumer Identity in Using Sustainable Mobility as a Service System in a Commuting Scenario

Social and economic development leads to the continuous urbanization process, accompanied by the increasingly prominent traffic congestion problem. Traffic congestion also brings problems such as serious environmental pollution and intensified social conflicts. Therefore, how to alleviate traffic congestion has become a concern of the government and related researchers. As the main cause of urban traffic, the efficiency of urban commuting is considered as the best embodiment of urban functionality. The mobile as a service (Maas) system may be a better solution. In order to make the mobile as a service system more popular, it is necessary to understand the internal motivations driving people’s corresponding behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the internal logic of consumer identity, attitude and related intentions through a structural equation model and chi-square analyses. The final behavioral intention of commuting consumers towards MaaS was explored by integrating relevant theoretical models and comparing different levels of identification and the views of different consumers towards MaaS. A result was provided that can be used by relevant government agencies or practitioners in order to gain a deeper understanding of the internal perceptions of consumers and promote the optimization and innovation of MaaS systems. In addition, the results of this study also identified the potential necessary factors for the adoption of MaaS by commuting consumers, which may influence the improvement or development of relevant policies. The results showed that the model used in this study was applicable to the consumption cognition of the MaaS system in the commuting scenario, which shows that the model has a certain effect in explaining consumers’ sustainable consumption attitudes, identities and intentions. The internalization of sustainable identity is the most important part for consumers, which indicates that consumers attach great importance to self-value affirmation and mutual affirmation of sustainable concepts. However, in the consumer group, there were still some consumers who had not transformed their sustainable attitudes and recognitions into actual behavior. Converting such consumers is, therefore, crucial and an important step towards sustainable development.