General Information:
*Note: The item was tested both in English and German.*
Question Text:
English version: Have you used any website or app to arrange a transport service (e.g. by car) from another individual
in the last 12 months?
German version: Haben Sie in den letzten 12 Monaten eine Website oder App genutzt, um eine Fahrdienstleistung
(z. B. mit dem Auto) bei einer anderen Privatperson zu buchen?
Instruction:
English version: Please tick all that apply or ‘No, I have not’
German version: Bitte kreuzen Sie alle zutreffenden Antwortmöglichkeiten bzw. ‚Nein‘ an.
Answer Categories:
English version:
Yes, dedicated websites or apps (e.g. UBER, Blabla car)
Yes, other websites or apps (including social networks)
No, I have not.
German version:
Ja, über eine darauf spezialisierte Internetseite oder App (z.B. UBER, Blablacar)
Ja, andere Internetseiten oder Apps (inklusive sozialer Netzwerke)
Nein.
Recommendations:
Question: The general issue of this question is that several respondents did not realize
that the intention of the question was to ask about transport services provided
by individuals. Therefore, it is necessary to make it more obvious that
the question focus is on individuals and not commercial companies.
One solution might be to change the sentence structure: “In the last 12
months, have you used any website or app from another individual to arrange
a transport service (e.g. by car)?”
In addition, it might be helpful to underline the term “another individual” in
the sentence: “In the last 12 months, have you used any website or app to
arrange a transport service from another individual (e.g. by car)?”
Finally, to clarify that the question inquires only about apps or websites
that offer transportation services from individuals, we would recommend to
make the intention more clear with an additional instruction: “This does not
include commercial companies, e.g., car rental companies.“
Answer categories: No changes recommended.
Specific Probing.
Findings for Question:
Question 1 asked respondents whether they have used any website or app to arrange a transport
service (e.g. by car) from another individual in the last 12 months. Respondents could choose between
the answer categories “Yes, dedicated websites or apps (e.g. UBER, Blabla car),” “Yes, other websites or
apps (including social networks),” and “No, I have not.” It was possible to select both the first and the
second answer options at the same time but the last response category (“No, I have not”) was an exclusive
category. Due to the possibility to select multiple categories, percentages do not necessarily
add up to 100 percent. The first answer category (“Yes, dedicated websites or apps [e.g. UBER, Blabla
car]”) was selected by 25.33 percent of the English speaking respondents and 7.14 percent of the German
speaking respondents. The second answer category (“Yes, other websites or apps [including social
networks]”) was chosen by 17.33 of the English speaking respondents and by 5.71 percent of the German
speaking respondents. However, most of the respondents in both countries indicated that they
have not used websites or apps to arrange a transport service from another individual (65.33 percent
of English speaking respondents and 87.14 of German speaking respondents).
Only respondents that chose the answer categories “Yes, dedicated websites or apps (e.g. UBER, Blabla
car)” or “Yes, other websites or apps (including social networks)” at question 1 received a specific
probe that asked respondents which websites they had in mind when answering this question. Respondents
that chose the answer category “No, I have not.” (n=110) did not receive this probe. As a
consequence, 35 respondents (26 British and 9 German respondents) answered this probing question.
The intention of Probe 1 was to verify whether respondents only think about services provided by
individuals and do not mention commercial companies that provide similar services. The table below summarizes all websites and apps which respondents wrote in their probe answers in
alphabetical order. Most of the British respondents (12 respondents) mentioned Uber and most of the
Germans (5 respondents) referred to Blabla car. This is not a surprising response pattern because Uber
provides its services in Germany only in large cities, such as Berlin. In addition, respondents in both
countries thought about commercial websites that also offer forums to arrange a transport service
from another individual. In Germany, ADAC and Deutsche Bahn provide such a service and British
respondents used, for example, Trip Advisor. In both countries, respondents also used facebook to find
transport services (1 British and 1 German respondent).
However, respondents also mentioned websites from commercial companies that provide transportation
services or travel arrangements in general. This was the case for one German respondent (Sixt)
and at least eight British respondents. In this context, respondents named companies such as Booking.
com, British Airways, Ryanair, Trainline, or TFL. These respondents misunderstood this question and
answered the question whether they use websites to arrange a transport service in general and not
necessarily from an individual.
For a more detailed breakdown of the respondents‘ answers please refer to the tables in the attached PDF document.
Question Topic:
Digitalization/ Use of digital systems
Construct:
Usage of websites to arrange transport services
