Revisiting the factors influencing consumer travel: an exploration of consumer travel for purchasing goods and experiencing services in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Abstract This paper revisits the relationship among the perceived built environment, travel attitude, perceived value, and consumer travel in the particular era of the changing retail landscape amid advances in information technology. This study thus uses consistent partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLSc-SEM) to estimate the focal parameters based on data from 30 commercial centres in Shanghai, China. Additionally, this inquiry uses multigroup analysis structural equation modelling (MGA-SEM) to evaluate the disparities between two types of consumer travel: purchasing goods and experiencing services. The results show that consumers’ perceived values and travel attitudes significantly influence their travel and that these effects are even more apparent for experience services. In addition, the perceived built environment plays a partially positive role in consumer travel. Notably, however, accessibility cannot directly influence consumer travel, only indirectly influencing travel attitude, whereas commercial attractiveness positively influences both of these. Accordingly, this study offers valuable insights, enabling urban planning, transportation, and commercial services to better address the evolving retail landscape and emerging consumer travel demands.