Car location & Car type

The last two possible barriers within the opportunity part of the MOAB model are combined within two of Thøgersen’s (2010) three A’s, access and availability. When going through the work of academia it was found that some consumers experience a barrier in the lack of access to the service in terms of geographical location and other consumers found it unsatisfying that the types of cars available to them were not the type they needed to rent.

Demand – Car location

Firstly, when exploring the possible barrier of car location and access, the carless consumers were quite adamant that the cars for rent should be placed within a reasonable distance to them for it to be relevant. The comments were among other:

”Det er at den er nem og komme til og at jeg ikke skal tage langt for at få fat i den.

For ellers kan det næsten være lige gyldigt. ...” (Interview 1)

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It became clear from the responses that the possible car renters do not see a value in the service if they have to travel far in order to use it. This distance varies from respondent to respondent, however between 5 and 10 km seems to be the maximum length that a possible user is willing to travel. The respondents argued that a sense of security emerge when renting a car nearby. They said among other:

“… Jeg tænker også at det er lidt tryggere for mig selv og udlejeren da man ikke lige kan flygte fra sit ansvar, hvis der nu skete noget med bilen.” (Interview 2)

From the answers, it can then be confirmed that car location is important to the possible users. They are not interested in travelling far in order to rent a car and they associate a certain amount of safety with the car being close to their home.

Demand – Car type

Concerning the second possible barrier of car types and availability, academia found that consumers are less interested in the service if the car types and available cars are limited. The car renters generally replied that the specific car type is not of great importance when wanting to rent a car.

However, when going into further discussion they all had some preference or specific want in the car. Some of the responses included:

”Engang imellem skal jeg måske bruge en kassevogn som jeg ikke havde adgang til ellers og så har det jo betydning. …” (Interview 3)

And

”Ja som sagt, hvis jeg skal leje er det typisk en situation som gør at jeg skal bruge plads. Men det har de fleste biler jo i dag, så det gør ikke så meget.” (Interview 2) The last respondent did not have special requests for car specifics such as size, but argued that for her the age and appearance of the car were important.

“… Men jeg ville nok, hvis jeg sad og kiggede på billederne af bilerne, vælge en der ikke var så gammel. Jeg ville nok ikke have det så godt ved at kører en som var helt rusten. Man tænker jo over, hvis den nu gik i stykker. …” (Interview 1)

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Overall it can be said that the respondents did not show interest in which cars were available to them in terms of brand. It was however found in correlation with earlier findings that these consumers want to rent a vehicle when they have to do something that public transportation cannot muster. In connection with this and car types, the consumers are interested in the size of the car and its safety more so than the car brand. It can then be assumed that carless consumers do take some interest in which car type is available to them.

Supply – Car location

The car owners are generally in agreement that it is not of any particular importance to them, how nearby a potential car renter lives. Their responses were all in the lines of:

”Det betyder ikke noget for mig om det er naboen eller en der kommer langvejs fra, så længe det er en der passer på min bil. …”(Interview 6)

However when going into further detail, they reveal other barriers that they see as a connection to car location. For example they mention in the same context:

“… Jeg ville se personen an inden jeg lejer/låner min bil ud. …” (Interview 5) And

“…, men fordelen ved at det er naboen, en der bor tæt på, er selvfølgelig at det gør det noget nemmere at afleverer bilen og modtage den igen. …” (Interview 4)

While they argue that the car renter’s place of residence is of no importance, they still show signs of mistrust and emphasize the importance of coordination. However this possible barrier will be analyzed later. Overall it can be argued that car owners do not see the car renter’s location as an obstacle for using the service.

Supply – Car type

The barrier of car type has not been explored in connection with car owners.

The last barrier that was explored combined car location and car type access. Firstly, the car location barrier argued that if the car owners and car renters are not within close range of each other, the service is of less interest to them. Car renters adamantly argued that the car had to be close to them for the service to be relevant. They would not travel further than 5 to 10 kilometers

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for renting a car and focused on the peace of mind it gives them that the car is close to home. The car owners were asked the same question, but did not express the same concern. Barriers of car location therefore surely exists for carless consumers, however the issue does not affect car owners.

Secondly, car type access was analyzed and the barrier argued that consumers would be less interested if the car types available were limited. Generally the car renters were not interested in which brands of cars were available, however they were interested in car size and safety. While not showing a strong interest in the cars, they still had certain expectations and wants that they would like to be met. Car types should therefore be regarded as a potential barrier for carless consumers to join the service.