=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1817/paper5
|storemode=property
|title=A Dust Buster? The Effect of Social Influence and Incentives On Mobility Behavior During Smog Alarm
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1817/paper5.pdf
|volume=Vol-1817
|authors=Wolfgang Gruel
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/persuasive/Gruel16
}}
==A Dust Buster? The Effect of Social Influence and Incentives On Mobility Behavior During Smog Alarm==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1817/paper5.pdf
A Dust Buster? The Effect of Social Influence and
Incentives On Mobility Behavior During Smog Alarm
Wolfang Gruel
car2go Group, Stuttgart, Germany &
MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
wgruel@mit.edu
Abstract. For cities, it is cruicial to solve their mobility issues. One of the ap-
proaches is to convince people to use more sustainable means of transportation.
This research investigates the effect of social influence and financial incentives
in the state of “particular matter emergency” in Stuttgart, Germany. Preliminary
results show an increased awareness, a reduction of cars on the road and in-
creased ticket sales for public transit and increased usage of a electric car-
sharing services.
Keywords: behavior change, mobility, particular matter
1 Introduction
Mobility is one of the biggest challenges for cities at the moment. Cities all over the
world are not only creating new ways of transportation [1], they also try to change
their citizens’ behavior with different carrot-and-stick-approaches. Cities are, for ex-
ample, restricting car use by limiting car-access to their centers [2], [3]. Other cities
have tried to convince people to switch from private automobile to public transit. In
some cities, public transit has even been offered for free. However, success of these
interventions has been limited [4], [5].
Methods of persuasion are potentially helpful to encourage a shift of transportation
modes. It has been shown in behavioral psychology that the motivation to perform
certain activities is an important driver for one’s behavior [6], [7]. Extrinsic motiva-
tion refers to external factors like tangible rewards or the avoidance of pressure [8].
These factors can potentially be influenced by cities. A major source of pressure can
be of social nature, i.e. pressure from other persons or groups [9]. This kind of social
influence is a phenomenon that is well-known in psychology [10]. Interventions ad-
dressing social norms can even influence behavior in situations that are a threat for a
community, e.g. in the case of water scarcity [11].
Thus, it can be assumed that a combination of financial incentives and social influ-
ence could cause a change in mode choice behavior towards more sustainable modes
– at least when a community experiences threat like bad air quality. This assumption
is investigated in a case study in the city of Stuttgart (Germany).
2 Case Study
Stuttgart is considered to be the German city that is most affected by particulate
matter [12]. Since the beginning of 2016 the city administration can declare a state of
“particulate matter emergency” whenever the German Weather Service predicts
weather conditions that are favorable for
high particulate matter concentrations. In
this case, the authorities encourage the
population not to use the car. The infor-
mation is spread on different channels like
radio, television, social media. Posters
with statements like “A ban on vehicles
saves lives” or “We are suffocating” are
placed in the city. Also, signs inform car
drivers about the emergency state and
invite them to use public transit (see
Fig. 1. Influencing signage [15]
Fig. 1). City officials made clear that it is
everybody’s responsibility to contribute to a reduction of pollution. The administra-
tion also announced that a ban on vehicles will be imposed if the city’s goals are not
met.
In addition to these socially influencing interventions, we are offering financial in-
centives to encourage more sustainable mobility behavior at car2go (the world’s larg-
est operator of free-floating car-sharing services [13]) and moovel (a route planning
app for different modes of transportation [14]): tickets for public transit are offered on
the moovel-app for half the price [15]. Also, trips with one of car2go’s electric car-
sharing vehicles are offered with a 50 per cent discount [16].
The state of particulate matter emergency was first declared on January 18, 2016. It
ended on January 21, 2016. The news was spread widely. On Twitter, the hashtag
#feinstaubalarm (particular matter emergency) ranked 2nd in Germany [17].
3 Preliminary Results
It seems that the first emergency state in Stuttgart’s history had only limited influence
on car traffic. A first assessment revealed a reduction of car traffic by three to seven
percent. Also, the goals in terms of particular matter concentration were not met.
However, the increased awareness for the problem of particulate matter was consid-
ered as a positive result [17].
From the perspective of car2go and moovel, a shift in behavior was visible: ticket
sales via moovel and usage of car2go increased significantly. However, the number of
car2go and moovel users are low compared to the total amount of travelers – so the
impact on traffic on a city-level is limited. It is also possible that the reason for the
increase in car2go-usage and moovel ticket sales is a shift away from other ticket
resellers to these operators or even away from more sustainable modes of transporta-
tion (e.g., walking or cycling). This will be subject to further investigation.
References
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2. Transport for London: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge
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12. City of Stuttgart: http://www.stuttgart.de/feinstaubalarm/
13. Car2go Group GmbH: http://www.car2go.com
14. Moovel Group GmbH http://www.moovel.com
15. Moovel Group GmbH: https://www.moovel.com/en/DE/press/particulate-matter-alert-
issued-moovel-enables-half-price-local-transport-in-the-stuttgart-region
16. Car2go Group GmbH: https://stuttgartspezial.car2go.com/
17. Sündwestrundfunk: Stuttgarter OB zieht durchwachsene Bilanz.
http://www.swr.de/landesschau-aktuell/bw/feinstaub-alarm-endete-freitagnacht-stuttgarter-
ob-zieht-durchwachsene-bilanz/-/id=1622/did=16812170/nid=1622/1fm6fdp/