Moving Forward: The Role of Marketing in Fostering Public Transport Usage
研究了西欧一家铁路公司的营销活动（广告和促销）对乘客月度累计出行距离的影响，发现广告和促销能有效促进公共交通使用，但出行距离增加反而降低满意度，可能因运力限制。
To reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, public policy makers often try to stimulate the use of public transport, as it is a more sustainable alternative to traveling by car. This study therefore investigates the impact of firm-initiated marketing actions and traveler satisfaction on monthly cumulative traveled distance of a Western European railway firm, as well as possible effects of this cumulative traveled distance on satisfaction. Analysis of time-series data on traveled distance, advertising, promotions, and satisfaction using a vector autoregressive model with exogenous variables that accounts for seasonality, trending behavior, and gasoline prices reveals positive effects of advertising and promotions. Advertising elasticities are considerably smaller than meta-analytic values of brand-advertising elasticities. Similarly, promotion elasticities are lower than those frequently reported in marketing. The authors find no effect of satisfaction on traveled distance; however, they do find a negative effect of traveled distance on satisfaction, which could be explained by capacity constraints. The authors conclude that firm-initiated marketing actions are useful and effective in fostering public transport usage.