How is scooter sharing best placed in the market based on ... · PDF fileHow is scooter sharing best placed in the market based on the marketing mix (4 Ps)? ... can be best placed

Balmberger, Tina (531148); Pampel, Lisbeth (552268); Schmoz, Johanna (552167); Strauß, Carolin (533032)Prof. Dr. Holger Lütters | 02/02/2016

How is scooter sharing best placed in the market based on the marketing mix (4 Ps)?

HTW Berlin| Master International Business | Marketing Research in International Business

SCOOTER SHARING SURVEY

02.02.2016Marketing Research in International Business

Scooter Sharing Survey1

In order to explore the urban lifestyle and the novel phenomenon scooter sharing, a survey with 169 participants was conducted. Out of the 169 participants, 98 complete responds were evaluated. The aim of the survey was to find out how scooter sharing can be best placed within the market based on the marketing mix.

According to the survey, scooter sharing operators should offer Vespa and eco-friendly scooters. The price for 15 minutes can be set at 3.75 € and the demand for scooter sharing is highest in cities with more than one million inhabitants. The target group was identified as people of any age who would like to have a vehicle for a fun ride through the city.

Key findings include that the willingness to pay for scooter sharing is almost as high as for car sharing (only 10 % down). As scooter sharing comes with way lower costs compared to car sharing, the expected profit margin of scooter sharing exceeds the one of car sharing by far (assuming all other factors being equal). Scooter sharing has the potential to open up new markets in smaller cities in the future as already every third citizen living in cities under 1 mil. inhabitants would consider to register. Scooter sharing services might apply push strategy in order to increase demand in rural areas.

Executive Summary

Johanna [email protected]

Tina [email protected]

Lisbeth [email protected]

Carolin Strauß[email protected]



Introducing the research team:




Driven by a specific research question

“We are students of MIB who are convinced that sharing culture will become an

important part of urban lifestyle. Therefore, we want to examine the novel phenomenon

of scooter sharing.“

2 February 2016Marketing Research in International Business


-Carolin, Johanna, Lisbeth & Tina-

Motivated from the novel sharing culture

Focus of current research: Sustainability

• No research on market placement of scooter sharing found - Only on Sustainability:

• Prata & Arsenio, 2014• Cost-Benefit Analysis of future

vehicle technologies: Exploring electric vehicle sharing schemes and intermodality

• Cornet, 2012• Sustainability Screening tool for

decision-making assistance in the field of urban mobility

Focus of our research: Market Placement

• Product: Which brand and engine of scooter?

• Price: Willingness to pay of customers?

• Promotion: How can we best address potential customers (target group)?

• Place: In which cities should scooter sharing be offered?

02.02.2016 5Marketing Research in International Business

Scooter Sharing Survey

And the lack of research on that topic

Ration of Questionnaire

Significance Test

Graphical Evaluation of Data



Supported by the following programs

1. Start with screen-out questionsDo you have a driver´s license?

2. General questions on scooter sharing behavior

3. Questions to test hypothesisVarious question types used:

Single Choice Multiple Choice Decision Tree Net Promoter ScoreSort items in rankingPrice Sensitivity Meter

4. Demographic questions in the end



Questfox used to create questionnaire…



• Aim to create a short, simple and attractive questionnaire

• Compressed images used to ensure accurate visualization on each mobile device

• Intro page designed cheerful to attract participants

• Establishing connections to scooters:

–Pictures of scooters whenever suitable

–Scooter symbol for slider

…And to design the questionnaire



• Aim to reach men and women above 18 years from all parts of Germany who have a driver´s license

• Sampling size n=100 (±5%)

• Invitation Methods:• Posts on Facebook and LinkedIn wall• Personal invitation via E-Mail, Whatsapp and

Facebook• Survey was online for 11 days• Only responds with consistency < 0.5 taken into

account

Data sampling methods applied

33,14%57,99%

3,55%

5,33%

Drop outs; n=56

Interview fully completed / Consistency < 0.5; n=98

Interview fully completed / Consistency > 0.5; n=6

Sreened out; n=9

55% after entering the Intro Page

Possible reasons for dropout:• Language barrier• Not attracted• Program failure

Responses with consistency rate >0.5 are

not considered for evaluation due to the possibility of falsified

results



Response Management implemented to analyzeresponse rate

68%

19%

9%

2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Facebook Whatsapp E-Mail Linkedin

Facebook: 68; Whatsapp: 19; E-Mail: 9; Lindedin: 2



Responses by distribution channels

2%

47%

51%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

No answer

Male

Female

Gender

0%

5%

10%

15%

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 >40

Age



And the demographic of participants

4%

37%

59%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I do not know

>1,000,000

≤ 1,000,000

Size of Place of Residence

Female: n = 49; Male: n = 45; No answer: n = 2 >1,000,000: n = 58; =<1,000,000: n = 36; I do not know: n = 4

n=98



PRODUCT – HYPOTHESES 1:

HP 1.1 People are more driven to use the brand Vespa than any other.

HP 1.2 People value feature èco-friendliness´ more than speed and design.

PLACE – HYPOTHESIS 2:

HP 2 People from cities with over 1,000,000 inhabitants are more likely to use scooter

sharing than people from places with less than/equal 1,000,000 inhabitants.

PRICE – HYPOTHESIS 3:

HP 3 The willingness to pay for scooter sharing is lower than for car sharing.

PROMOTION – HYPOTHESES 4:

HP 4.1 Scooter sharing attributes females more than males.

HP 4.2 Scooter sharing attributes users ≤ 30 years more than users > 30 years.

HP 4.3 The main reason to use scooter sharing is to have fun riding through the city.

Research conducted to support / reject four hypotheses

• Only the position 1 of the ranking of scooter brands according to preference was considered during the following evaluation.

• Of 89 total respondents, 71% (63 respondents) ranked Vespa as the top brand against the scooter brands: Emco, Zip, Aprilia and Simson.

Hypothesis supported.

People prefer to use the brand Vespa over Simson, Aprilia, Zip and Emco.

n=89



4%

4%

9%

11%

71%

Emco

Zip

Aprilia

Simson

Vespa

People are more driven to use the brand Vespa than any other (Hypothesis 1.1)

Frequency of scooter brand preferences – Rank 1



• The 98 total respondents rated eco-friendliness with 37% as most important of the product features eco-friendliness, speed and design.

• Eco-friendliness is closely followed by the product feature speed with 36%.


People prefer to use an electric scooter, but speed is also of high importance.

n=98

27%

36%

37%

Design

Speed

Eco-friendliness

People value feature éco-friendliness´ more than speed and design (Hypothesis 1.2)

Importance of product features: eco-friendliness, speed and design



• Out of the 94 total respondents, 36 respondents are from a place ≤ 1 Mio. and 58 respondents over 1 Mio. inhabitants.

• Of the 36 respondents ≤ 1 Mio. inhabitants, 3% (1 respondent) answered “Yes” to be registered at a scooter sharing company.

• Of the 51 respondents > 1 Mio. inhabitants, 12% (7 respondents) answered “Yes” to be registered at a scooter sharing company.


≤ 1 Mio. (n=36) / > 1 Mio. (n=58)

People from cities with over one million inhabitants are more likely to use scooter sharing than people from places with less than/equal one million

inhabitants (Hypothesis 2)

Usage of scooter sharing

12%

3%

88%

97%

> 1 m inhabitants

≤ 1 m inhabitants

No Yes



People from cities with over 1,000,000 inhabitants are more likely to use scooter sharing than people from places with less than/equal 1,000,000 inhabitants.

People from cities with over one million inhabitants are more likely to use scooter sharing than people from places with less than/equal one million

inhabitants (Hypothesis 2)

Willingness to register for scooter sharing

≤ 1 Mio. (n=34) / > 1 Mio. (n=51)

• Out of the 85 total respondents, 34 respondents are from a place ≤ 1 Mio. and 51 respondents over 1 Mio. inhabitants.

• Of the 34 respondents ≤ 1 Mio. inhabitants, 32% (11 respondents) answered “Yes” to be willing to register at a scooter sharing company.

• Of the 51 respondents > 1 Mio. Inhabitants, 47% (24 respondents) answered “Yes” to be willing register at a scooter sharing company.


47%

32%

53%

68%

> 1 m inhabitants

≤ 1 m inhabitants

No Yes



• When asking the 98 respondents to specify which price is “too cheap, cheap, expensive, and too expensive” for using the service scooter sharing for 15 minutes, the average price of 3.75 Euro was determined.

• The acceptable price range for 15 minutes scooter sharing is between 2.80 and 4.30 Euro. Every price below or above the range is either too cheap or too expensive.

n=98

The willingness to pay for scooter sharing is lower than for car sharing (Hypothesis 3)

Willingness to pay for scooter sharing



• When asking the 98 respondents to specify which price is “too cheap, cheap, expensive, and too expensive” for using car sharing for 15 minutes, the average price of 4.15 Euro was determined.

• The acceptable price range for 15 minutes car sharing is between 3.90 and 5.40 Euro. Every price below or above the range is either too cheap or too expensive.


n=98

The willingness to pay for scooter sharing is lower than for car sharing.

The willingness to pay for scooter sharing is lower than for car sharing (Hypothesis 3)

Willingness to pay for car sharing

• Out of the 94 total respondents, 49 respondents were female and 45 respondents were male.

• Of the 49 female respondents 8% (4 females) responded “Yes” when asked if they were registered for a scooter sharing service.

• Of the 45 male respondents 9% (4 males) responded “Yes” when asked if they were registered for a scooter sharing service.

Females (n=49)/ Males (n=45)



Scooter sharing attributes females more thanmales (Hypothesis 4.1)

Female and male scooter sharing users

9%

8%

91%

92%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Males

Females

No Yes

• Out of the 85 total respondents, 45 respondents were female and 40 respondents were male.

• Of the 45 female respondents 33% (15 females) responded “Yes” when asked if they are willing to register for a scooter sharing service.

• Of the 40 male respondents 45% (18 males) responded “Yes” when asked if they are willing to register for a scooter sharing service.

Hypothesis not supported.Females (n=45)/ Males (n=40)



Scooter sharing attributes males more than females.

Scooter sharing attributes females more than males (Hypothesis 4.1)

Willingness of females and males to register for scooter sharing

45%

33%

55%

67%

Males

Females

No Yes

• Out of the 98 total respondents, 69 respondents were under/equal 30 years and 29 respondents were over 30 years.

• Of the 69 under/equal 30 years users 7% (5 respondents) responded “Yes” when asked if they use a scooter sharing service.

• Of the 29 over 30 years users 10% (3 respondents) responded “Yes” when asked if they use a scooter sharing service.

≤ 30 years (n=69)/ > 30 years (n=29)



Scooter sharing attributes users under/equal to 30 years more than users over 30 years (Hypothesis 4.2)

Usage of scooter sharing according to age groups

10%

7%

90%

93%

> 30 years

≤ 30 years

No Yes

• Out of 89 total respondents, 63 respondents were under/equal 30 years and 26 respondents were over 30 years.

• Of the 63 under/equal 30 years users 40% (25 respondents) responded “Yes” when asked if they are willing to use a scooter sharing service.

• Of the 26 under/equal 30 years users 38% (10 respondents) responded “Yes” when asked if they are willing to use a scooter sharing service.

Hypothesis not fully supported. ≤ 30 years (n=63)/ > 30 years (n=26)



Currently, Scooter sharing attributes less users under/equal to 30 years than users over 30 years. However, the potential to register for a scooter sharing service is slightly higher for users under/equal to 30 years.

Scooter sharing attributes users under/equal to 30 years more than users over 30 years (Hypothesis 4.2)

Willingness to use scooter sharing according to age groups

38%

40%

62%

60%

> 30 years

≤ 30 years

No Yes

• The 98 respondents rated the activities using a scooter on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 10 (totally).

• On average, the activity “To have fun riding through the city” was rated 6.5. As shown in the right hand figure, the activity was rated the most favourite activity to use a scooter for.




The main reason to use scooter sharing is to have fun riding through the city.

The main reason to use scooter sharing is to have fun riding through the city (Hypothesis 4.3)

Purpose of using scooter sharing

n=98

3,1

4,0

4,5

5,5

5,6

6,5

0 2 4 6 8 10

To go shopping

To go out (restaurant, clubbing, etc.)

To pick up your crush for a date

To go to work/home/university

To visit friends and family

To have fun riding through the city



PRODUCT

71% (63 respondents) ranked Vespa as the top brand against the scooter brands: Emco, Zip, Aprilia and

Simson.

Eco-friendly scooter are preferred, but speed is of high importance as well.

PLACE

People from urban areas (>1,000,000) are more likely to use scooter sharing.

PRICE

The willingness to pay for scooter sharing is lower than for car sharing.

However, people would pay an average price of 3.75 Euro for 15 minutes scooter sharing. That’s only 0.40

Euro less than for car sharing (4.15 Euro).

PROMOTION

Scooter sharing attributes slightly more males than females.

Scooter sharing attributes almost equally people under and over 30 years.

Scooter sharing is used to have fun riding through the city.

Summary of Findings


2 February 2016 26Marketing Research in International Business


Answering Research Questions

Price:3.75 € for 15 min

Place: Cities with more than one million

inhabitants

Promotion: Marketing should be addressed to males and females independently

of age, who enjoy having a fun ride through the city

Product: Vespas and eco-friendly scooters

(electro scooters)

Adressing target group(Promotion)

High profit margin possible (Price)

Willingness to pay for scooter sharing is almost as high as for

car sharing (average of 3.75€/15 min. for scooters and 4.15€/ 15

min. for cars). Nevertheless, costs for scooter sharing are

much lower (e.g. lower acquisition costs of vehicle, gas consumption, insurance costs). Therefore, higher profit margin

can be derived (if all other factors are equal).



Implication for scooter sharing services

Marketing is more effective if target group is addressed. Men are more likely to use scooter sharing than women (45% of

men). Still, every third women is interested in scooter sharing. Hence, women should not be

excluded from target group, as potential customers might get lost when promotion is men-

oriented.

Potential expansion options (Place)

Assortment of scooters (Product)

People value the brand Vespa and eco-friendly scooters most. Vespas are not

produced with electro engines. However, some firms have specialized installing electro engines in Vespas. In

order to attract customers, Vespas with installed electro engine should be

offered. Emco, though, comes with an electro engine in series. Even though

the respondents value eco-friendliness the most, they did not rate the eco-

friendly Emco scooters as their favorite. The brand awareness of Emco

is probably too low.



Implication for scooter sharing services

Almost every second citizen of cities with more than 1 mil. inhabitants

would consider to register with scooter sharing. Only every third citizen of

cities with less than 1 mil. inhabitants would consider to register.

Currently, scooter sharing services should focus on cities with more than 1 mil. inhabitants. Potential to expand to cities with less than 1 mil. inhabitants

in future, once the service is more popular. And / or scooter sharing need to apply push-strategy in rural areas.



• Drop-Out Rate of 55% after Intro-Page:

– More accurate definition of `Scooter sharing´

– More attractive Intro-Page

• Feedback of Participants:

– Questions on willingness to pay for scooter sharing and car sharing are asked too close in succession

– Even though participants said they would not use scooter sharing, they were asked for what purposes they would use the service

– Many drop-outs due to English language

– No ´Back´-Button

Critical Reflection



• Survey reveals valuable information for scooter sharing services

• All hypotheses could be either supported or disproved

• Research question could be answered and implication for scooter sharing operators derived

But:

• Sample size might be too small

– Survey include ónly´ 98 valid reply form.

To conclude…



Is Scooter Sharing the new Car Sharing?

After car sharing has established well within the urban lifestyle, scooter sharing services want to follow up on that success. Some firms have already started scooter sharing operations in German metropolis. Each firm, though, has its own strategy to place the service on the market.

A recent survey, conducted by students of HTW Berlin, reveals valuable information in terms of the optimal market placement of scooter sharing on the basis of the marketing-mix (4 Ps).

The survey suggests that scooter sharing services should offer the brand Vespa and eco-friendly scooters. The willingness to pay for such a service is only a bit lower compared to car sharing. Considering the fact, that costs of scooter sharing are way below the costs of car sharing, huge profit margins can be derived from scooter sharing. The ideal target group is very broad, including all people at any age who like to chose scooter sharing in order to have a fun ride through the city. The survey also points out that demand for such a service is highest in cities with more than 1,000,000 inhabitants. Further, scooter sharing has the potential to expand to cities with less than 1,000,000 inhabitants, as already every third inhabitant would consider to register.

Press Release



Further links to the infographic, survey content, final report, presentation and press release can be found here:

www.scootersharing.wordpress.com

Communication

http://www.scootersharing.wordpress.com/



• Cornet, H. (2012). Sustainability screening tool for decision-making assistance in the field of urban mobility. Retrieved from: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1097329/1097329.pdf[Accessed on 25/01/2016]]

• Prata, J. & Arsenio, E. (2014). Cost-Benefit Analysis of future vehicle technologies: exploringelectric vehicle sharing schemes and intermodality. Retrieved from: http://tra2014.traconference.eu/papers/pdfs/TRA2014_Fpaper_17688.pdf [Accessed on 25/01/2016]]

References

https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1097329/1097329.pdf

http://tra2014.traconference.eu/papers/pdfs/TRA2014_Fpaper_17688.pdf



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Daily Response Overview - Graphical Illustration



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Documents

How is scooter sharing best placed in the market based on ... · PDF fileHow is scooter sharing best placed in the market based on the marketing mix (4 Ps)? ... can be best placed