Analyzing the passengers’ satisfaction with the services in long-distance bus stations – The case of Mien Dong station in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract Customer’s satisfaction plays the most important role in shaping continuance usage intention (i.e. loyalty). Therefore, much scientific effort has been invested in exploring the factors contributing to the satisfaction of passengers using the bus, air, intercity rail, and metro services. Notwithstanding, little is known about the determinants of customers’ satisfaction with the services offered by long-distance bus stations. Aiming at filling this research gap, the current study analyzed the passengers’ satisfaction in the case of Mien Dong station in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The used data from 300 passengers were collected in August 2022 through face-to-face interviews. As regards the analytical methods, the Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to the responses to the attitudinal items in order to extract underlying constructs, which were then used together with demographical variables to fit an ordinal logit model. The findings show that most demographics were irrelevant, but habit was a significant predictor. Specifically, the higher usage frequency was involved in the lower level of satisfaction. All constructs derived from EFA (Information availability, Customer services, Reliability, Comfort, Safety and Security) were positively associated with the satisfaction level. Among latent constructs, security & safety and comfort were the strongest while information availability was the weakest. Based on the results of influential factors, some practical implications were suggested. Since Ho Chi Minh City is a typical megacity in developing countries, our findings are expected to be useful for other research in settings beyond Vietnamese cities/provinces.