Push and Pull Factors in Adopting a Crowdsourced Delivery System

This study explores push and pull factors affecting the adoption of crowdsourced delivery or crowd-shipping systems using a structural equation method. The core data used in this study are obtained from an online survey distributed among 800 individuals in June 2016 in the United States (U.S.) Analyzing the answers of 533 respondents, the direct and indirect effects of the personal attitudes, socio-demographic, and built-environment variables on the likelihood to be a crowd-shipper are looked at. The model suggests that crowd-shipping is more likely for men, full time employed, younger respondents, and for areas of higher population density yet lower density of employment opportunities. Concerning attitudinal motivations, the results suggest that financially motivated users are less likely to become crowd-shipping users, while community orientation and viewing the platform as a platform for helping relationships has only indirect effects on use. This leads to the observation that the early adopters appear to hold quite distinct, more critical, views of the ability of the new shipping platforms to deliver affordable and community-building service.