Public satisfaction with bicycle sharing in Hong Kong
Acknowledgments
I would, first of all, take this great opportunity to convey my sincere gratitude to my project supervisor. I would accredit the success of this project to him. He tirelessly helped me and made sure that I got all that I needed to make the whole thing a success. He greatly motivated and pushed me to think creatively so that my project would be successful, even the moments that I was down he greatly helped and encouraged me not to give up but rather to raise and face the reality. My academic professional advisor has also been very instrumental in this journey. It is through the meetings we have had together concerning the success of the project that has helped me to be where I am now. It is through these meetings that most of my questions were answered and this gave me confidence and courage to go on with the project. Many times I would feel discouraged and go for meetings, but after the meetings I would feel very encouraged and rejuvenated to do it once more and my faith in the whole thing would be stirred up and this is what made me accomplish what I have accomplished so far. His advice extended even further to general life situations and even to my career life after school. My sincere gratitude extends further to the members of the sports department. This project would not have been successful were it not for them because anytime I would need any information that was helpful for me to write my project they were more than willing to offer. The past and existing information they gave me concerning bicycle-sharing were crucial for me to be able to project the future. The entire University fraternity; fellow students, lecturers, and all non-teaching staff have also played a very crucial role for the completion of my project and I would also like to greatly thank them for the great support they have all shown me. My Dad and my Mum have also greatly helped me to accomplish my goals. They provided the moral support and also financial support and I cannot take this for granted, I sincerely thank them.
Abstract
The purpose of this project is basically to assess public satisfaction with bicycle sharing in Hong Kong. As the companies that are involved in hiring bicycles for people of Hong Kong, there are things that make the customers get satisfied and some of the things put the customers or the cyclers off. The projects seek to determine what are these things that contribute to the satisfaction of the customers as these companies and governmental organizations provide these services to the customers. There are several concepts and the theories that are applicable in the whole idea of bicycle sharing and this project has incorporated these ideas to make sure that the better results and conclusions are obtained. The results of this project were obtained from the research conducted from the general members of the public and therefore the project seeks to investigate the public’s satisfaction or what are the factors that contribute to the satisfaction of the members of the public. After identifying these factors, the projects also seek to come with several recommendations to the bicycle-sharing companies and government organizations on the need to improve their services to the customers in the Hong Kong region. This will significantly help to improve the general cycling services in the region and it will be to the advantage of the cyclers. The relationship between the price and the impact that it has on the satisfaction of the cyclers in Hong Kong have been looked at in-depth. The functional quality has also the impact on the satisfaction of the people of Hong Kong and this project explores this matter in detail and an explanation of the reasons for this is also given. Other factors that affect the satisfaction of the cyclers in Hong Kong are the colors of the bicycles being hired. Different customers have different types of colors they like and this has a great impact on their satisfaction depending on factors such as gender and age of the cycler (Zhang et al, 2017). Also, advertisement methods have had an impact on public satisfaction in the field of cycling. There are those advertisement methods that influence the satisfaction of the public and this project seeks to cover this topic in detail and establish the correlation between the advertisement modes and public satisfaction. Payment mode also has a great impact on the customer’s satisfaction. Different customers prefer different modes of payment and this project also has covered this topic in detail to establish the different modes and how they affect the customers’ satisfaction.
The objectives and aims of this project are achieved by basically utilizing different quantitative approaches and the main one being the use of secondary data. Secondary data, in this case, was obtained from different sources such as books, journals, reports, and journal reports that have covered this topic in detail. These sources have research information for the different researches that have been conducted on bicycle satisfaction and also projections concerning what is expected in the future. This greatly helps in the general project research as most of the current issues can be related to what happened in the past. There were several challenges encountered during the research and one of them is the limited research that has been done on this issue. There has not been a lot of research especially in the China region concerning this sporting activity hence the reference materials are somehow limited and this makes the whole idea of research somehow difficult. This challenge was however overcome by doing the research form the people well. Enough time was taken in the field and this greatly helped the whole process and guaranteed accuracy of the research.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 2
Abstract 3
Chapter 1 6
1.0 Introduction: 6
1.1 Research Background: 6
1.2 Research Rationale: 9
1.3 Research Aim: 10
Chapter 2 15
2.0 Literature Review 15
2.1 Introduction 15
2.2 Gender Factor 15
2.3 Developments in the Bicycle Sharing 16
2.4 Factors that Customers Before Selecting a Bicycle 16
2.4.1 Advertisement 17
2.7 Gaps in the literature 17
2.8 Limitations in the literature 18
2.9 Conclusion to Chapter 18
Chapter 3 19
3.0 Methodology 19
3.1 Introduction to Methods and Methodology 19
3.2 Outlining Research 19
3.2.1 Research Process 19
3.3 Research Type 20
3.4 Data Collection Methods: 21
3.4.1 Justification and Clarification: 21
3.5 Participants & Survey Period: 22
3.6 Pilot Study: 22
3.7 Data Analysis: 23
3.8 Ethics: 23
3.9 Reliability 23
Chapter Four 24
4.0 Results: 24
4.1 Introduction to Results: 24
4.2 Results from Questions 24
Chapter 5 33
5.0 Discussion: 33
Chapter 6 34
6.0 Conclusion 34
Appendix: 34
Appendix 1- Student Declaration 34
Appendix 2 – Research Questionnaire 35
CONSENT STATEMENT 35
References 40
Chapter 1
1.0 Introduction:
1.1 Research Background:
This chapter puts the whole project into its right context by providing a general overview of the project and it includes the goals of the project and the reasons for the research. The study focuses on finding the difficulties that have been experienced in Hong Kong so far that have made it difficult for the public to be satisfied. It will involve carrying out several surveys on different members of the public who use bicycles and determine their level of satisfaction based on the services that have been provided so far. The factors that have greatly affected the satisfaction so far and which the survey will be based on include things such as the quality of the services being offered, the price given out by the bicycle hiring organizations, and the willingness of people in different industries and organizations. This research project looks at two main important things and they include bicycle sharing and user satisfaction. Bicycle sharing is the process of hiring bicycles to the members of the public at an affordable price to the people who do not have bicycles and have no plans of owning one due to their reasons such as lack of space to store the bicycles or probably they are not planning to stay in one place for a long time (McClinton, 2002). It is also a very important form of transport especially for those people who travel for short distances. There are several reasons why people would consider sharing bicycles instead of using other means of transport. For instance, using bicycles helps greatly to relieve the traffic issue. They occupy less space on a road compared to personal cars so a road can accommodate more people using bicycles. This is in a case where many people use personal cars. It also greatly helps to save land spaces because there is no need for parking lots. One can pack bicycles almost anywhere unlike cars which need vast areas for packing. Bicycle sharing is also an increasingly popular subject because of the awareness of the people concerning environmental pollution (Anowar, Eluru & Hatzopoulou, 2017). The use of bicycles uses manual energy and it does not involve the usage of fuels that pollute the environment upon combustion and they are therefore environmentally friendly. Fuels used in cars and other motor-driven modes of transport use these fuels and at the end of the day, they contribute to air pollution. They also produce noise which in turn contributes to noise pollution making the world a terrible place to live. The use of bicycles, therefore, contributes greatly to the improvement of the quality of air and also environmental protection. The users become physically fit. This reduces the probability of contracting several diseases as high blood pressure, heart diseases, and sometimes diabetes which are mostly caused by an excess of accumulation of fats due to lack of exercise.
The whole hiring system is made in such a way it is convenient for the users right from the picking of the bicycles to the returning of the bicycles. The system that will be used will allow hiring the bicycles without meeting the bicycle owners through computerization (Zhang et al, 2016). The system will be incorporated in the smartphones of the users and the operating systems of the phones will be made in such a way that it will accommodate the relevant applications to open up the hiring system. It will allow the user to be able to look for a closer bicycle-sharing sport that is near him and through a special code scanner on the phone he or she will be able to scan the QR code on the bicycle that will allow the unlocking of the bicycle. After the cycler has finished up with the bicycle or has reached his or her destination then he will just pack the bicycle at a nearby bicycle-sharing sport. The feature of renting and returning bicycles anywhere is a very crucial aspect of bicycle sharing ideas.
The bicycle operation in this project is based on past knowledge on the same. For the last 45 years there have been several generations of the bicycle systems. The first generation used around 1960 where the users would just use the bicycles and after they have reached their destination they would just hand it over to the next user (Lee, 2013). Security however was a problem because there was no proper tracking system of who is handling the bicycle at a given time. This led to losses to the owners of the bicycles because a lot of them would be stolen.
Around 1991 the second generation was brought forth which was a little bit advanced compared to the first generation (Ohta, 2016). The design of the bicycles was a little bit advanced and they allowed one to collect, store, and return the coins in specific locations in the city center. By that time there were no huge organizations that operated the business but rather smaller stations and non-profit organizations. The challenge with this generation of the bicycle was still theft, where people would steal the bicycles because they knew that tracking was difficult. The appearance of the bicycle sharing system developed in 1966 (Norcliffe, 2017). This first appeared at Portsmouth University in England and the whole idea was brought forth by a student who used magnetic stripe cards to develop a bike renting system. The bicycle had improved features that would allow easy tracking and also easy locking. Several telecommunication systems were also incorporated in these bicycles and also the smart keys whereby they allowed a little bit of secured locking. They also consisted of an on-board computer that made it difficult for people to steal them.
The development of Bicycle sharing in Hong Kong started well in April 2017 by a company called Gobee Bike (Henry & Paul, 2018). It began by first parking the bicycles in multiple locations in the new territories such as Science Park, Shatin, Tai Po, and Ma On Shan and this totaled to more the 1000 bicycles. Two months later the bicycles had increased to around 20,000 bicycles. By 2018 five more bicycle-sharing companies had joined the market and they included Locobike, Hobabike, oBike, Ofo, and Ketch’Up Bike (Pritchard & Froven, 2016). Ofo was the largest bicycle company among these and it covered more areas than the other bicycle-sharing companies. There was a big challenge at first when this all idea was introduced and this led to the destruction and theft of many bicycles but as years went by the people of Hong Kong have accepted this idea and all the problems that were experienced before have greatly reduced.
1.2 Research Rationale:
Studies have shown that introduction of the bicycle sharing system among the residents of Hong Kong has greatly helped to reduce noise and air pollution and also reduced congestion in the city of Hong Kong. The love for bike-sharing has increased since more and more people are seen participating and getting involved in bicycle sharing activities from different areas within Hong Kong (Coll et al, 2017). Researches have shown that the majority of the people who at first did not have an interest in involving themselves in bike-sharing activities have now adjusted and accepted the new system. This research also explores the reasons as to why Hong Kong residents are now seen to engage in bike-sharing activities more and why there are more bicycle lovers than it used to be before. It is argued that more people are involved in bicycle sharing because of the flexibility of the bicycles and the ability to help people to keep fit in many ways. Being in a position to physically fit through bicycle riding helps people to have a lower probability of getting different diseases that are associated with a lack of exercises such as high blood pressure and heart diseases that are caused by the accumulation of Fit in the blood vessels.
Another reason for writing this project is to help to come also to go through the history of the bicycle sharing idea. This in turn will help out especially for the new inventions on the same because most of the inventions are developed based on past inventions. This will help out to come up with even better and more sophisticated ways of handling bicycle sharing.
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1.3 Research Aim:
There are research aims for this project and one of them is to review the concept and theories of satisfaction and bicycle sharing.
Several theories can be associated with the satisfaction of the cyclers and these are the theories that mostly affect their behavior. One of the major theories is the social cognitive theory (Zhang, 2019). For people to be able to go out there and hire bikes that they will use for transportation or fun, it greatly depends on the inner forces and not external forces per se. Many people who hire bicycles in Hong Kong do so not because they lack money for other means of transport but in from within them they find themselves gravitating towards bicycles. Lack of money for instance is an external factor and it has always not been the main thing that drives the members of the public to use the bikes. Human behavior is normally affected by triadic interaction of behavior, personal and environmental factors (Joo et al, 2019). Though all these factors contribute to the overall desire for cycling among the members of the public, they are not the main factors. Since the inner forces are the main factors that affect or influence people to use bicycles, the fulfillment of these inner desires is what determines the satisfaction of the people. For instance, people are not satisfied because the services offered by a company are pleasing to their friends, who in this case can be described as external factors but rather it is the internal forces that drove the person to hire the bicycle that will determine the fulfillment of one’s desires or that will lead to satisfaction. Environmental factors represent situational influences and the environment in which behavior is performed while personal factors or the inner forces include things such as traits, instincts, and other different individual motivational forces (Levy, Orion & Leshem, 2018). If all these factors in an individual are met, then satisfaction can be said to have been met. Companies therefore should be experts in establishing what are these internal forces that the majority of the members of the public who use their bicycle possess and after establishing them they cow focusing on meeting them so that they can attain their satisfaction. Companies should not design their bicycles depending on how they think is best for them but how best is it for the customers because they are the key players in the industry. High satisfaction levels can be achieved by superseding the expectations of the cyclers by using this theory to learn their behaviors well and trey as much as possible to meet the needs especially for the majority of the customers.
Satisfaction is also dependent on the planned behavior theory (Henry & Paul, 2018). Mostly satisfaction and also the behavior of people are dependent on one’s intention to perform the behavior. In the case of bicycles, sharing intention is determined by several factors and the main one is the individual’s attitude. Attitude is a compilation of a person’s beliefs and values about the outcome of the behavior. As people use bicycles there is always an intention or a personal goal they want to achieve in the long run. For instance, some of them just want to keep physically fit. Riding a bicycle allows one to exercise and to be physically fit and some people do take the bicycles for the ride intentionally. Companies should, therefore, be in a position to harvest all these beliefs and attitudes and work towards conforming their services to fulfilling these desires, beliefs, and attitudes. They can also use intentions as a variable to predict behavior change in the bicycle-sharing industry and thus they will always be in a position to keep meet the satisfaction of the customers all the time.
The concept of trans theoretical model9 is also applicable to the satisfaction idea in the bicycle-sharing industry (Kotlikoff, 2016). The companies should always be in a position to reach the pre-contemplation stage where they have been able to continually satisfy the needs of the customers or the cyclers to a point where the cyclers are not intending to change shortly. If the companies play around with the idea of satisfying their customers, they can only attain the contemplation stage where the cyclers who get involved in the bicycle sharing activities will intend to change soon. In this theoretical concept near future is described as a period of six months. The customers or the people who use the bicycles and are in this stage are usually aware of the pros of changing but can identify the cons or the limitations and the shortcomings of the bicycle sharing services being offered by the company. Finally, the last stage is the termination stage whereby the customers are not likely to change their behavior (Westland, Mou & Yin, 2019). They are likely to maintain their behavior. This stage is even higher than the pre-contemplation stage because the pre-contemplation stage lasts for only six months.
2. Investigate the public’s satisfaction with the recognition and use of bicycle sharing. To begin with, to be able to understand satisfaction in the bible sharing industry, this service is treated just like any product. In as much as satisfaction is an attitude or a mentality, it is based on a reality of how well the services are offered. Different customers have different satisfaction levels concerning similar products or services. This depends on the expectations, wishes, and needs of the person concerning the service being offered (Yin, Qian & Singhapakdi, 2016). Bicycle sharing also can be assessed over the years by the ability it has had to satisfy people’s needs. This includes both long term users and those who just use bicycles for fun. In Hong Kong, most of the students for example use bicycles for a long time while there are those people especially tourists and some working-class people who use bicycles just for fun after work or when they have come to visit the city. Long term users and short term users can have different perceptions of the services being offered and therefore different levels of satisfaction.
Most of the bicycle users in Hong Kong have always viewed satisfaction as the fulfillment of one’s needs. They have had always viewed bicycle sharing to be satisfactory if only it can offer the highest level of pleasure. So depending on the degree of pleasure the service offers, one can assess the level of satisfaction (Janke & Handy, 2019). A bicycle for instance can be able to offer pleasure to the customers when it is in good condition. There are some bicycles which are sometimes not in good condition and to a point they stress a cycler while cycling. A bicycle with a dropping chain for example will not offer any pleasure to the cycler because at every instance he or she will be forced to drop and fix the chain and this act can waste a lot of time for the cycler. A bicycle with a punctured tire also cannot offer pleasure because its speed is reduced and it is also very difficult to ride such a bicycle. So in general satisfaction can be measured by the performance and the ability of the service to meet the customer’s expectations. When the performance is lower than the customer’s expectations, then the service would not satisfy the customer’s needs. When the performance of the service reaches the expectations and wishes of the cycler then the level of satisfaction will just be neutral. The highest level of satisfaction is met when the performance of the product supersedes or exceeds the expectations of the cycler. Bicycle sharing in Hong Kong has always aimed for the highest level of satisfaction whereby the service being delivered should be higher than what the customers are expecting (Shi et al, 2018). This has been the key to the growth of bicycle sharing in Hong Kong. Also, the bicycle-sharing companies in Hong Kong have tried as much as possible to make the service known to very many people. They have not assumed that the people already know. Also, they have made the process of acquiring bikes as simple as possible because a complex problem reduces the satisfaction level.
3. Recommend to the government and bicycle-sharing companies the need to further improve the development of cycling in Hong Kong. Development of cycling in Hong Kong can be improved just like how the quality of any product can be improved and this mostly is an initiative of both the government and the bicycle-sharing companies because they are the key players in this industry (Li & Shan, 2016). First of all, the government and bicycle-sharing companies need to come together and work together to ensure there is high-quality service delivery. When these two players work in unison, they will be able to come up with common solutions for the outgoing challenges that face the industry. When these two players do not work in unison, one of them will be able to understand the common challenges facing the industry while the other one will not be in a position to understand the challenges facing the industry because one player will involve itself in the affairs of this services more than the other and this will create a shortage in satisfying the customer’s needs. Another best way to improve the development of the cycling industry in Hong Kong is the companies taking the initiative to learn how to improve this service. This will be learned through benchmarking activities with companies in other countries that have been able to do this successfully over the years. Also the ideas on how to do this successfully can be obtained by reviewing the existing literature about bicycle sharing. This will help to come up with new development ideas that will greatly help the companies to offer the best services ever. The companies also need to embark on a serious gathering of information from the existing customers of cycling fans (Zheng, Wei & Liu, 2020). This will greatly help to learn what challenges these people are facing and also what are their expectations concerning the services being delivered by the companies. This will help to be able to know where exactly the company needs to improve in terms of service delivery. A proper analysis also needs to be carried out to help evaluate the several barriers that have offered resistance and opposition to the attainment of the full potential of service delivery. This will help the bicycle-sharing companies to create an effective measure to deal with these barriers affecting the smooth running of these activities in the city. When companies can analyze and evaluate these challenges, it will be easy to achieve set goals and achievements. Also to improve the performance, bicycle-sharing companies need to increase the capital employed in the industry by increasing the number of bicycles and the provision of high-quality bikes and also to the few managers and employees that are around to increase their payment salary (Zhang, 2019). This is because the payment salary will act as a source of motivation and they will, therefore, be able to work as hard as possible to achieve the goals set by the companies.
Chapter 2
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This section covers different researches that have been conducted concerning bicycle sharing in Hong Kong. This chapter will also cover the discussion on the requirement that are required to research the bicycle sharing in Hong Kong. It will also elaborate on the customer’s level of satisfaction and their attitudes towards bicycle sharing. The different steps that need to be taken to enhance the performance of the bicycle sharing program in Hong Kong and also the analysis of different some of the relevant methods of precautions to implement to ensure success and prosperity of the bicycle sharing idea. It will also present the number of companies that have joined the industry so far and the amount of capital invested, terms of leadership, and operating conditions. Several bicycle-sharing companies and government organizations in other countries across the nations of the world. This will help to learn about bicycle sharing in other countries and relate it to what is happening in Hong Kong. The challenges facing the industry will also be explored in-depth in this section. There are several challenges that the industry faces and the challenges are somehow different in different nations. The literature review section seeks to examine these challenges to see how solving them or overcoming them has helped the industry to grow over the years.
2.2 Gender Factor
Zhang (2017), illustrated that gender is one of the factors in the bicycle-sharing industry. Gender is a factor in the sense that there exists a difference in participation between the female and the male in the city of Hong Kong. Li (2020), illustrated that majority of the people who prefer using bicycle transport are the men and especially the young men in various educational institutions. The female gender or ladies are about 48% of the people who use these services.
2.3 Developments in the Bicycle Sharing
Zhou (2019), verified that the technology about bicycle sharing has greatly improved. The idea for this project was adopted from some of the developed countries like England and the United States of America. Examples of the developments are the use of Bicycle sharing up that helps the bike-sharing companies to share bikes easily with their customers and also the customers can access the bicycles easily. Since its introduction in Hong Kong the number of thefts of bicycles has greatly reduced and also the number of damages has greatly reduced (Broadhurst, Lee & Chan, 2016). Long before its introduction people used not to care of the bicycles that they hired and mostly they would just destroy and damage them but since the introduction of the app these cases have greatly reduced in the city and it has allowed the companies to expand even more since the losses made from the damages and theft cases are low.
2.4 Factors that Customers Before Selecting a Bicycle
According to Wu (2018), there are several factors that the customers have been considering before the selection of the bicycle to use. In Hong Kong different bicycles vary in price and this is one of the key factors that people look for. There are a lot of poor people in Hong Kong and also middle-class people. Such people’s price of any product or any service is one of the things that they greatly consider and as any other customers, cyclers also consider the price of hiring a bike. Most of the people who hire bicycles that are a little bit cheaper. This is especially for those people who hire bicycles regularly like students. Those who hire a little bit expensive bikes are those who hire them for fun and they include tourists and some people who come from well off backgrounds. Also, the majority of the members of the public prefer the use of online payment methods using their phones Coll (2017). This view this method as a more convenient method than other physical methods like cash which at the end of the day will need the establishment of offices, long ques, and employment of many cashiers. This is a burden not only to the companies but also to the customers because it wastes a lot of time and also is too tiresome. Also, research conducted by Gao (2020), revealed that most of the people like to use green bicycles. This color is liked by many people. In his research he also concluded that many people consider the functionality of the bicycles before hiring them. For instance, people would consider hiring a bicycle that is deemed to run faster than the rest. Such bicycles greatly help in the urban connectivity process. Functionality is associated with Branding where certain brands of bicycles are deemed to have better performance and better connectivity than others.
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2.4.1 Advertisement
With reference to (JR Deitch, 2006, advertisement is also one of the key factors that have enhanced the whole bicycle-sharing idea. When it was first introduced in Hong Kong in 2017, only a few people knew about it. But as time went by, more and more advertisements were made concerning how they operate, Also, the different bicycle companies can compete favorably against one another through advertisement. Different companies use different modes of advertisements to make their services known to the public and the better they do it the competitive they become.
2.7 Gaps in the literature
Research conducted by DL Andrews (2018), stated that there was not enough research within the United States in consideration that the management in the National Basketball Association. To aid the NBA, the United States has to provide relative support and commitments. There still seems to be a gap in the United States regarding the National Basketball Association, and the evaluation of the review.
2.8 Limitations in the literature
There exist some limitations in the literature review and one of them is the fact that there are no many sources that have projected the future of bike-sharing in Hong Kong. The future of bicycle-sharing needs to be well projected so that the companies that are involved with this whole process will be able to know what to do for them to sustain the future market and future uncertainties.
2.9 Conclusion to Chapter
Key Findings
• Gender is among the factors that are taken into consideration in the whole idea of bicycle sharing in Hong Kong. There seem to be more men or male gender participating in these services than women.
• There are several developments in the bicycle-sharing industry that have enhanced the delivery of these services and one of them is the bicycle sharing app that had made it easy to monitor the operations and also reduce cases of theft and damages.
• The factors that riders look before selecting a bike include mode of payment, functionality, color, and brand. Brands are normally associated with functionality.
• Advertisement has been the key tool for bringing people into an awareness of these services since the introduction of bicycle sharing in Hong Kong back in 2017. It has also been one of the key competition avenues where the companies advertise their brands for them to gain a competitive advantage over the others.
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Chapter 3
3.0 Methodology
3.1 Introduction to Methods and Methodology
Research methodology, in this case, is developed to facilitate the establishment of background for the research, and also it is carried out so that the objectives of the research can be achieved and met. The research methods that have been used in this section are the data collection methods, strategies, and techniques. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection have been used in this section. The quantitative methods of data collection include methods like observation while qualitative methods of data collection include methods like interviews. Methodology in this section justifies the research methods used in the research. Qualitative methods of data collection are more effective than quantitative methods but they are all used in the data collection because each has a crucial part that it plays (Hennink, Hutter & Bailey, 2020). A qualitative approach is deemed to be more effective because of the ability to understand actual experiences, emotions, and ideas of the bicycle users.
3.2 Outlining Research
This research covers several methodical approaches to help discover, progress, and expand human knowledge. Several strategies have been used to help to analyze and process the information obtained about the research topic. The research at the end of the day will greatly help to improve intellectual ambitions and the desire to gain knowledge and understanding needed to appreciate the concepts and theories that have been used in the bicycle-sharing industry. The challenges experienced during this whole process will also be solved in the society and the members of the public will experience relief in the various aspects of their lives.
3.2.1 Research Process
This research about bicycle sharing in Hong Kong will take place in stages.
First Stage
The first stage involves coming up with the aim s and the objectives of the research paper. This is always very crucial because it helps one to remain within the scope of the study and also helps one to avoid time wastage. Time can be wasted when searches for other information that is not required in the project
Second Stage
An explanation of data gathering is always outlined in this section. Gathering of data involves several methods and this stage mostly focuses on the survey methods that will be used on the collection of data from the members of the public about the bicycle sharing activities in Hong Kong.
Stage Three
This stage will involve analyzing the data obtained and also data presentation. The presentation of data will be done using charts, tables, graphs, and also SPSS software. The analysis of data will help to arrive at the conclusion which at the end of the day will greatly help to achieve the aim and the goals of the research. SPSS studies the data obtained and this also helps to meet the set goals and objectives.
Stage Five
The fifth and last stage involves a compilation of data and coming up with a report that can be read by other people. These people include the teachers, lecturers, peers and even other researchers who would want to know more about bicycle sharing in Hong
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3.3 Research Type
This research is both quantitative and qualitative research. It is quantitative research in that most of the research activities are based on statistical generalization. The statistics obtained in the research allow the researchers to make conclusions about various aspects of bicycle sharing. The observations made by the researcher are normally numerical observations and this greatly helps the companies which will go through the research project on its completion to be able to understand where exactly they need to improve relationships with certain publics. It can also help us to know how to measure how much those relationships have ultimately improved. It also has qualitative aspects in that the information obtained is generated in an in-depth manner to make it easy to understand public opinion. It also allows the collection of data through experiences of the members of the public. Their viewpoints and their values are also put into consideration.
3.4 Data Collection Methods:
To begin with the types of data collected in this research project are the primary data and the secondary data. Primary data is the data that the researcher has practically collected from the field while secondary data is data obtained from other researcher’s work (Johnston, 2017). This data however can be used as a stepping stone to achieving the aims and the objectives of the current data. Primary data is usually more relevant to the topic of study than the secondary data and therefore this research project depends more on primary data than the secondary data which is obtained from secondary sources such as books, journals, and internet sources. In as much as the research depends mostly on the primary data, secondary data is also very crucial in the accomplishment of the project’s goals because it provides a wider scope for investigation and research.
3.4.1 Justification and Clarification:
The main method of data collection that will be used during this research is the use of questionnaires. The data was analyzed statistically after the collection. This is one of the best methods to collect information concerning bicycle sharing in Hong Kong because it provides information that is required in the research. It does not include so much information that is not necessary for the research by having a list of questions that guides the research. This will help even further by providing close-ended questions that will guide the members of the public to answer the questions of how they are supposed to answer them and provide only the information that is needed. This is advantageous because it reduces bias (Bartram,2019). For the sec of confidentiality, the questionnaires are always sent through the mail. Enough time is given to the respondents to answer the questions and this allows them to provide quality answers without being in a hurry. The questionnaire consists of a total of 50 closed-ended questions.
3.5 Participants & Survey Period:
This survey was done to the people of Hong Kong to determine their satisfaction with the bicycle-sharing services. Most of the participants were people who have had a history of hiring bicycles as these are the people who can truly tell if they were satisfied with the services or not. The survey was randomly done and it constituted both male and female gender aged from 18 years. It was done on 200 people and this constituted 100 males and 100 females. To encourage maximum participation some incentives were provided to anyone who was there to participate in the exercise. This process would take about three weeks.
3.6 Pilot Study:
A pilot study was conducted to make the questionnaires more effective. Several questionnaires after being given out it was concluded that some amendments needed to be made. The age bracket which was too general was at least subdivided into two. Some people were interviewed from the age of 18-35 and the other group was from the 35 years and above. This was done because the priorities of these two groups of people are different and this might bring about differences in the idea of satisfaction. The services that satisfy people below the age of 35 can be different from those which satisfy people who are above the age of 35 years. The questionnaires were also made so detailed to ensure that it was possible to obtain as maximum information as possible within the fifty questions. This even brought about replacing some questions with other questions.
3.7 Data Analysis:
The method that was used for data analysis was the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). This method is always the best for the organization, analysis, and collation of data. It helps to bring out a quality display of the data and therefore making the whole system friendly to the user.
3.8 Ethics:
High ethical standards were observed during the collection of information. There was a consent question that allowed to ask permission from the respondents before gathering information from them. There was also an affirmation to show that all the information obtained from the respondents would remain confidential and that the information would not be used for any other purposes apart from academic purposes. This at the end of the day will help the respondents to give the answers freely and willingly without any fear.
3.9 Reliability
Every research always contains some errors and until these errors are considered during the conclusion then the research results sometimes are not that much reliable. There are errors such as subject error and research error that always need to be taken into consideration and they include bias, research errors, and subject errors. Subject error is where the response to the same question varies from one person to another because of simple reasons such as varying in environmental factors and also the condition of the respondent. Research error mostly takes place when several research concerning the same issue are done using more than one research method. There are possibilities that the responses given would vary. Bias occurs when the person developing the questionnaires frames the questions to be what he or she wants them to be. He or she influences the responses in away.
Chapter Four
4.0 Results:
4.1 Introduction to Results:
The data collected is analyzed and examined here. After the analysis the results obtained help to achieve the aims and the objectives of the research since these objectives are drawn from the results obtained.
4.2 Results from the Questions
Figure 1: Bicycle Ownership
Figure 2: Knowledge of Bicycle Sharing App
Figure 4: Percentage of the Members of the Public that Hires Bicycle for Transportation
Question A percentage that Strongly Agrees A percentage that Strongly Disagrees
I carefully consider the functionality of a bicycle before purchasing or hiring 70% 30%
1. The color of the bicycle is a vital factor for me when choosing a bicycle.
35% 65%
The brand of the bicycle very important to me when getting a bicycle.
55% 45%
The level of advertising of a bicycle brand has an impact on me when getting a bicycle.
42% 58%
When it comes to hiring a bicycle the mode of payment is vital to me.
76% 24%
I use bicycles as my main means of transport.
24% 76%
I prefer cycling over any other means of transport.
32% 68%
The use of bicycles has transformed the transportation industry in Hong Kong.
69% 31%
Bicycles cause overcrowding in the city.
56% 44%
The use of shared bikes has increased the cases of vandalism in the city.
48% 52%
A large number of bicycles in the city are dockless.
52% 48%
The bicycle-sharing operators are more interested in making profits rather than taking full responsibility for the bicycles.
40% 60%
Due to the illegal packing shared bicycles end up blocking the pavements.
84% 16%
Shared bicycles are taking up the spaces for public parking causing disputes.
80% 20%
The government should not tolerate commercial bike-sharing providers to use public parking spaces for free.
60% 40%
The rise of bike-sharing companies is posing as a threat to the bike rental shops in the country.
68% 32%
Bike rental shops are not flexible enough compared to bike-sharing shops.
88% 12%
The use of bicycle sharing is a major step towards dealing with global warming in the country and the world in general.
Use of shared bicycles has reduced noise pollution in the city immensely
80%
70% 20%
30%
Sharing bicycles has helped build a healthier nation due to increased levels of exercise among the citizens.
88% 12%
The use of bicycle sharing is highly convenient because I don’t have to occupy my home with several bicycles.
90% 10%
The use of bicycle sharing has greatly reduced air pollution in the city.
92% 8%
Bike-sharing operators should implement laws that prohibit illegal parking.
81% 9%
The government should implement new laws to stop the illegal parking of bicycles.
The Hong Kong police force should always clear any bicycles that pose a threat to the good fare of road users.
80%
60% 20%
40%
Hong Kong is not suitable for the bicycle sharing mode of transport since it is small
40% 60%
Hong Kong does not have a good network of designated bicycle lanes.
54% 46%
Hong Kong has a perfect transport system and bike-sharing is unnecessary due to the many inconveniences it causes.
40% 60%
The illegal and irresponsible parking of bicycles in the city is as a result of uncivil behavior among the citizens 60% 40%
Bike riding should be encouraged as a way of reducing air pollution and keeping fit rather than a business opportunity and competition.
62% 38%
The government should collaborate with NGOs to establish bike-sharing schemes.
72% 28%
The bike-sharing operators should have a public hotline to report any complaints.
79% 21%
The government should charge the bike-sharing operators for public parking areas.
48% 52%
The government should embrace bike-sharing as a means of transport and include it in the transport laws and policy.
51% 49%
Bike-sharing should not be banned in Hong Kong.
96% 4%
The bike-sharing service should be changed from dockless to fixed positions 40% 60%
The bike-sharing operators constantly check and fix faulty bikes.
90% 10%
The bike-sharing operators should provide public liability insurance for its clients 80% 20%
The bike-sharing operators should adopt geo-fencing technology that enables them to have real-time locations of their bicycles 70% 30%
Riders should take care of one another and not abuse the convenience of dockless services.
88% 12%
The Hong Kong bike-sharing system can be improved and the government has the power to do so.
93% 7%
Having my Bicycle is more convenient than using the bike-sharing system.
30% 70%
Being responsible riders is the first step to ensuring a safer bike-sharing system.
96% 40%
The bike-sharing program in Hong Long will improve gradually.
90% 10%
Chapter 5
5.0 Discussion:
This research project aimed to find out the satisfaction level of people of Hong Kong concerning the bicycle-sharing services offered in the city. The objectives were highlighted at the beginning of the project to guide the research. The data was collected from different members of the public and the results were analyzed and presented in the form of percentages in table and pie chart forms.
Chapter 6
6.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, the objectives of the paper were achieved. The series of questions on the questionnaire was administered to 200 hundred respondents, 100 males, and 100 females. The questions were administered to assess the satisfaction of the citizens on the bicycle-sharing services. Analyzing the results from the respondents showed that most of the members of the public appreciated the services of the bicycle sharing system and most of them gave the recommendations that would improve the services.
Appendix:
Appendix 1- Student Declaration
Student Declaration.
I declare that this assignment is all my work and that all other authors have been acknowledged.
Student signature: ………………………………………………………. Date………………….
Supervisor’s Declaration.
I declare that there has been verification and seeing of the primary data set of this assignment.
Project supervisor signature: ……………………………………….. Date…………
Stage 3: Self Declaration of electronic submission to Turnitin
Student Declaration.
I declare that an electronic version of the final copy of my project has been uploaded to Turnitin.
As a result of my electronic submission to Turnitin, the final Similarity Index Percentage was found to be __________.
Student signature: ………………………………………………………. Date………………….
Appendix 2 – Research Questionnaire
(English)
Questionnaire for surveying Hong Kong’s people satisfaction with bicycle-sharing services.
Hi, I am a student at Sheffield Hallam University pursuing a Bachelor in Sports Business Management. I am surveying the satisfaction of Hong Kong’s residents with the bicycle-sharing services in the country. I would be grateful if you would spend a few minutes of your time to complete the following questions. All the information that you provide will be used solely for academic use and will be kept confidential.
CONSENT STATEMENT
I hereby agree to be a part of this survey, I fully comprehend what I am doing and have the will to stop at any time.
Signature Date
Are you a resident of Hong Kong?
Yes: proceed to part A
No: The questionnaire has been completed. Thank you!
Part A
2. I own a bicycle.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
3. I know how to use the bicycle sharing app.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
4. I always hire bicycles for transportation.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
5. The price of a bicycle is a vital factor for me.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
6. I carefully consider the functionality of a bicycle before purchasing or hiring.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
7. The color of the bicycle is a vital factor for me when choosing a bicycle.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
8. The brand of the bicycle very important to me when getting a bicycle.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
9. The level of advertising of a bicycle brand has an impact on me when getting a bicycle.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
10. When it comes to hiring a bicycle the mode of payment is vital to me.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
11. I use bicycles as my main means of transport.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
12. I prefer cycling over any other means of transport.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
13. The use of bicycles has transformed the transportation industry in Hong Kong.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
14. Bicycles cause overcrowding in the city.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
15. The use of shared bikes has increased the cases of vandalism in the city.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
16. A large number of bicycles in the city are dockless.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
17. The bicycle-sharing operators are more interested in making profits rather than taking full responsibility for the bicycles.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
18. Due to the illegal packing shared bicycles end up blocking the pavements.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
19. Shared bicycles are taking up the spaces for public parking causing disputes.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
20. The government should not tolerate commercial bike-sharing providers to use public parking spaces for free.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
21. The rise of bike-sharing companies is posing as a threat to the bike rental shops in the country.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
22. Bike rental shops are not flexible enough compared to bike-sharing shops.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
23. The use of bicycle sharing is a major step towards dealing with global warming in the country and the world in general.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
24. The use of shared bicycles has reduced noise pollution in the city immensely.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
25. Sharing bicycles has helped build a healthier nation due to increased levels of exercise among the citizens.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
26. The use of bicycle sharing is highly convenient because I don’t have to occupy my home with several bicycles.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
27. The use of bicycle sharing has greatly reduced air pollution in the city.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
28. Bike-sharing operators should implement laws that prohibit illegal parking.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
29. The government should implement new laws to stop the illegal parking of bicycles.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
30. The Hong Kong police force should always clear any bicycles that pose a threat to the good fare of road users.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
31. Hong Kong is not suitable for the bicycle sharing mode of transport since it is small
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
32. Hong Kong does not have a good network of designated bicycle lanes.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
33. Hong Kong has a perfect transport system and bike-sharing is unnecessary due to the many inconveniences it causes.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
34. The illegal and irresponsible parking of bicycles in the city is as a result of uncivil behavior among the citizens.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
35. Bike riding should be encouraged as a way of reducing air pollution and keeping fit rather than a business opportunity and competition.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
36. The government should collaborate with NGOs to establish bike-sharing schemes.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
37. The bike-sharing operators should have a public hotline to report any complaints.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
38. The government should charge the bike-sharing operators for public parking areas.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
39. The government should embrace bike-sharing as a means of transport and include it in the transport laws and policy.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
40. Bike-sharing should not be banned in Hong Kong.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
41. The bike-sharing service should be changed from dockless to fixed positions.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
42. The bike-sharing operators constantly check and fix faulty bikes.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
43. The bike-sharing operators should provide public liability insurance for their clients.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
44. The bike-sharing operators should adopt geo-fencing technology that enables them to have real-time locations of their bicycles.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
45. Riders should take care of one another and not abuse the convenience of dockless services.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
46. The Hong Kong bike-sharing system can be improved and the government has the power to do so.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
47. Having my Bicycle is more convenient than using the bike-sharing system.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
48. Being responsible riders is the first step to ensuring a safer bike-sharing system.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
49. The bike-sharing program in Hong Long will improve gradually.
Strongly disagree 1 2 3 4 5 strongly agree
Part B
Please tell me about yourself by choosing the option that describes you best. All the information that you share is highly confidential and will be used for academic purposes only.
50. Gender
i. Male
ii. female
51. Age
i. 18 – 35
ii. 35 & above
You have reached the end of the questionnaire thank you for your time and cooperation
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