Post-decision

Kristina’s statement further illustrates how the level of involvement in the decision making process of selecting and joining a car sharing service is seemingly very low. For Kristina, the importance lies in whether or not the service provides her with what she expects, namely a fair price and convenience in the usage situation. The respondents lack of interest in seeking out other car sharing alternatives and doing any market research prior to signing up for a car sharing service illustrate how their perceived financial, social and psychological risks are low.

alternative than a bike or other means of public transportation. The respondents also emphasize how they consider convenience in terms of the flexibility of the transportation mode. When using public transportation, the respondents are dependent on the location of stops, whereas bikers do not experience this constraint. Martin describes Car2Go, another car sharing initiative, as convenient because the booking system was easy to use and because he experienced the time from thought to action as short.

The influence of convenience is not only occurring in the decision regarding the consumers’ preferred mean of transportation, as well as in their perception of car sharing services, it is also reoccurring as convenience in the purchasing process. This is analyzed in the following paragraph.

5.2.2.1 Purchasing

The nature of DriveNow as a “membership” service influences the customers purchasing process. Consumers have to purchase the right to use the service by paying a sign-up fee. Once the sign-up fee is paid, DriveNow becomes a pay per minute car sharing service, where customers pay through their Rejsekortet account. The users who participated in the individual interviews and the focus groups all signed up for DriveNow during the introduction period, where DriveNow offered free signup to their customers. The influence of a signup fee can thus not be analyzed in the following paragraph and is excluded from the analysis.

The influence of convenience as consumers’ main motivation for using DriveNow is already present in the sign-up phase. The ease of the sign-up process plays a major influence on how the consumers view the concept of DriveNow. Both users and non-users express the need for convenience in the sign up process as the key to whether or not they will end up using the service. If the signup process does not come across as convenient, the consumers discard the service and turn to other means of transportation.

Christoffer back up Kristina’s prediction with a story of how he experienced difficulties in his first attempt to

”I have not used Uber or DriveNow myself, but before Car2Go stopped, I used them a lot. It worked pretty well. You did everything over the cellphone and it was a really easy app to use. Found the car

and registered and then you walked to the car and you drove.”

Martin, Focus Group 2

“First off all, I think the preparation that allow you to actually borrow the car is pretty important to me. If it is too complicated I would never get it done.”

Kristina, Focus Group 2

after several attempts and support from the service provider, he was advised to physically show up to get the problem fixed.

The anecdote highlights the emphasis users put on convenience as the number one incentive for using a car sharing service and how perceived convenience and ease of use is a source of competitive advantage between the different car sharing providers. The transportation service that the consumers perceive as the most convenient and easy to use is the one that in the end, end up providing the consumers with what they demand from their transportation; convenience. As the consumers’ level of interest in the specific service is low, because they are already accustomed to other alternatives such as biking or using public transportation, they find it easy to keep using other means of transportation, if they experience any inconvenience or trouble in the signup process. Christoffer never became a user of Car2Go, because of the bad experience in the sign-up process, but the experience did not discourage him from trying out DriveNow, when that was introduced, which indicate that a bad experience with one type of car sharing service does not transfer onto other car sharing initiatives.

5.2.2.2 Using

Concerning the process of using DriveNow, the respondents express how convenience and flexibility is the consumers’ number one motivation for using or potentially using DriveNow.

Alexanders’ comment emphasizes how the convenience of DriveNow is again the number one incentive for him. For him transportation is something that gets him from A to B and he values time efficiency and reliability highly, as previous experiences with using the metro for transportation have led him to have little faith in public transportation. The other respondents support his view on convenience in the usage situation

”I was told that I had to pick up a new keycard in this shop they had, where it would be reactivated and then it as supposed to work again, but it still did not work, so I thought “Fuck it, I can’t be bothered. Not anymore.” So when DriveNow came, I thought I should test it out, because it is much

easier, because it is just with Rejsekortet.”

Christoffer, Individual Interview 2

“So it trumps public transportation, why? Because you would rather trust yourself, at least I would, than the metro, because even a broken clock is right twice a day, but the metro system, it can be

anything”

Alexander, Focus Group 1

and the lack of trust in public transportation. To this, Emilie added an emphasis on the geographical availability of the DriveNow cars as an important functional product attribute.

Consumers are looking for convenience in their transportation habits. They want their transportation to be reliable, effective and flexible. DriveNow is a membership based car sharing service, where the users pay per minute they drive and as the users after every trip can evaluate whether or not they wish to continue using the service, the experience of each trip is of great importance, as a bad experience can make them discard the service. The users’ emphasis on convenience is yet again the key motivation for consumers. As the users basically seek a service that provides them with utilitarian benefits, a difference between expectation and experience of the service can get them to reconsider their use of DriveNow.

Ruta’s experience illustrates how convenience and functionality trumps the social benefits of the electrical car. The functionality and the utilitarian benefit of convenience is the number one priority for Ruta and the social benefits of driving an electrical car is second priority to her and not something that must influence negatively on the performance of the car.

“You don’t have to bother yourself taking it back and forth and yeah convenience is definitely important. Why would anyone use it if you have to go and pick it up somewhere else?”

Emilie, Focus Group 1

“I grabbed the closest DriveNow, which was fully charged, which was 96%. So I went to Solrød Strand and then to be honest, I didn’t have the power to come back all the way (…) so I asked him (red. her

brother) to find the nearest charger somewhere in Greve and I plugged it in to try and charge it (…) and I couldn’t log out because I am outside of Copenhagen, so I had to stay there. Wait for the car to

charge enough so I could actually drive back to the city and plug it somewhere. So it took me three hours, just hanging around. (…) So I had to wait and the clock is ticking and I am still logged in and this costs me. So those three hours cost me over 500 kroner, just because I ran out of battery. That is insane. I mean eventually I drove to the city, just ditched the car and took another one and just drove

back home. It was a crazy day. It was such a waste of time and money, so I wouldn’t dare to go anywhere outside of Copenhagen with that car anymore.

(...) After my experience where I ran out of power, I would probably appreciate it would be fuel or at least hybrid, but I do realize why it is purely electric. I mean, I am for it, but not very convenient if you

suddenly run out of power.”

Ruta, Focus Group 1

For the users of DriveNow, convenience is the single most important attribute of DriveNow and the importance of convenience is reoccurring in every step of the consumers’ decision making process.

DriveNow’s uniques selling proposition is its ability to provide consumers, who do not need a car every day, with the flexibility and convenience of having a car without the perceived hassle of owning a car. In the searching and selecting stages, the respondents express how they trust recommendations from peers and the users expressed how DriveNow’s advertising message emphasizing convenience and ease of use made them interested in the concept. The respondents express no need to compare DriveNow with other car sharing alternatives, but they also express how the sign-up and initial trips were considered test-drives, as they do not find it difficult to disregard the service if they find it not to provide them with the convenience they want.