Disentangling Determinants of Ride-Hailing Services among Malaysian Drivers

Abstract

Ride-hailing has emerged as one of the progressive sharing economy platforms. As a digital platform, both riders and drivers are critical to achieving sustainable ride-hailing transactions. Previous studies have gained little insight into ride-hailing services from drivers’ perspectives. This study investigates the salient factors that determine the usage of ride-hailing services among drivers in Malaysia by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM), introducing governmental regulations, and integrating perceived risk and trust into the model. We collected data from a total of 495 ride-hailing drivers across Malaysia. Our results suggest that a driver’s intention to use ride-hailing services is determined by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and governmental regulations, which lead to actual usage. However, unexpectedly enough, the results signify that perceived risk does not affect the intention to use ride-hailing unless there is trust among the drivers. Overall, this paper draws attention to the substantial contrast in its results from the majority of prior TAM literature and has thoroughly improved the exploratory power of TAM by introducing new variables into the model, particularly from the perspective of ride-hailing drivers. This study is expected to bring theoretical and practical contributions to improve the country’s ride-hailing industry.