Barbara Gruehl Kipke

User Perspective, Marketing & Sub-Markets

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User Perspective, Marketing & Sub-Markets

Barbara Gruehl Kipke
Zugbrueckenstr. 54
29223 Celle
Germany

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Introduction
User perspective
Marketing concepts
      incl. Figure 1. The Urban Mobility Forum and Fig. "Development of the volume of transport and the modal split of the residents in Graz"
Marketer
Market Share
Market Segmentation
Conclusions
What little we know about women and bicycles
Summary

This chapter will emphasize the user perspective since users are the beneficiaries or losers depending on what transport system is finally chosen. Looking at the user perspective from a marketing point of view, this approach would be considered to be market research. Since there is not one single user perspective, the market is divided into various submarkets, or in marketing terms "market segments".

Up until the 1970's the user perspective was hardly the basis for transportation planning. At most, traffic counts were conducted as a form of "market research" to determine how popular the various transport modes were. The reason for even this interest was a justification for huge investments. Planners sometimes merely made their best guess at what the user's perspective was. At best that was an expert opinion, at worst it was the planner's bias that favored motorization because he belonged to the upper class that could afford an automobile - in both cases the result was at the planner's discretion. Even today it is sometimes difficult to discern whether information is an individual opinion or based on broader survey methods. It is, however, important not to place emphasis on infrastructure and vehicles as has been the case in the past, but rather on the needs of the population.

Traffic models were very deterministic with little room for policy leeway. The four-step model: traffic generation, traffic distribution, modal split, route choice infers a "linear" line of thinking with no feedback possibilities. Prognoses were often extrapolations of past developments. Only recently have transportation planners recognised their possibilities to influence modal split. Along with these new possibilities go along greater responsibilities. Transportation planners are therefore reverting to asking consumers in order to back up their decision-making.

An improved understanding of travel behaviour became possible when activity-based approaches were first applied in the mid 70's.

Although these research efforts vary considerably in style and content, they may be broadly characterised by their concern with:

1. understanding travel behaviour rather than simply statistically replicating travel patterns;
2. studying travel in the broader context of daily behaviour (often measured as individual or household activity budgets or patterns), and a concern with choice in the context of constraints; and
3. using a broadly-based research methodology, often embodying both quantitative and qualitative techniques.

In developing countries interest has long been concentrated on public transport (initially state-owned and in a second stage privately owned), considered the answer to the transportation needs of the poor. The focus was therefore on the supply-side rather than demand-side. Due to the failure of these public transport operations in developing countries some market research was conducted. This sectoral approach lead to only part of the total transport product being researched. While looking at the public transport user's perspective, some information on the situation of non-motorized modes was a side-effect whereby those modes were mainly considered competitive rather than complementary.

I understand by gentle traffic modes walking and/ or riding a bike. Other conceptualities are common according to adjustment of the viewer for these traffic modes e.g. environmentally compatible, ecological, green, gentle, healthy, democratic, freedom encouraging, forgotten means of transport. Non-motorized transport is on the other hand a discriminating term. I normally use the term "the sustainable modes" in english.

Market research to determine the user's perspective is still not standard procedure. Otherwise the so-called "green modes" would be a central area of interest, especially in developing countries, because of their substantial market share. Even in China and India the level of interest in non-motorized transport users is not commensurate to the importance of non-motorized transport use to the Chinese and Indian economies. If the user were questioned to a greater extent, it would not be as prevalent to restrict non-motorized modes use.

Recent articles on non-motorized transport modes make recommendations on the basis of market research.

Table 1. Exerpts of various studies on non-motorized transport modes
where users' perceptions -in terms of areas of concern to them- are included:

Each of the mobility issues from the user's perspective need to be covered in any study. Often these areas of concern are mentioned simultaneously. This combination of factors implies that a number of actions will be required to solve various problem areas that are of importance to the user.

Studies that have been conducted elsewhere should not be used as a basis for decision-making in other locations.

In general, the traveler in the developed world can be concerned with optimizing the travel time, whereas the traveler in the developing nation is more concerned with the immediacy of ensuring survival. As a result, income, passenger transport availability etc. have greater significance.

Users and non-users
Users have very different opinions of a transport mode than non-users. In order to be able to influence modal split, it is necessary to know what these differences are and act accordingly:

Europe:
The TRRL in European cities came up with interesting findings. The teenagers and adults who do not cycle consider it to be a child's activity, too much personal energy demand, inconvenient for carrying luggage, of low perceived status and unacceptable image, a non- serious mode of transport, dangerous.
Those who do cycle do it because of low cost, need for exercise, avoidance of traffic jams, convenience, environmental benefits, freedom.

Non-users may nevertheless have experience with the transport mode either as children or when traffic conditions were more favorable to non-motorized transport modes:

Nairobi, Kenya:
13% it was found had bicycles and used to ride to work in late 70's but abandoned their use.

To convince some non-users may require substantial resources:

Nairobi, Kenya:
The high income household in Nairobi cannot dream of riding a bicycle to work. It is the humble submission of this study, that the City Planning has totally ignored the plight of the cyclists in its planning to safeguard their lifestyles and values-they who are the middle class, want to drive. (Rukunga)

Non-users may even be able to articulate specific recommendations that are a prerequisite for those non-users to become users. Even if these recommendations may be debatable, not responding to them will likely mean that the non-users that consider that aspect important will remain non-users.

Nairobi, Kenya:

• Asked whether they would prefer cycling other than walking or bus/matatu, they said that if the road planners build a separate cycle track along the roads, they would very much be for it for it will save them walking and travelling in congested buses and matatus.
• 100% also complained that no footpaths are provided, and if provided, they are in bad conditions.

Since marketing is a relatively new concept and often used inappropriately, it will be useful to define marketing. According to Kotler:

Marketing is human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processes.

Kotler goes on to say:

the selling concept and the marketing concept are frequently confused by the public and many businessmen. Levitt offers the following contrast between these two orientations: Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller's need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering and finally consuming it.

Since the government's role is not profit maximization, as is the case with companies, the societal marketing concept appears most relevant:

The societal marketing concept is a management orientation aimed at generating customer satisfaction and long-run consumer and public welfare as the key to satisfying organizational goals and responsibilities.

A further concept that requires clarification is that of "the product". It is the first of the popularized "four P's": product, place, promotion, and price, that together form the marketing mix.

A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, or consumption; it includes physical objects, services, personalities, places, organizations, and ideas.

In this case, the question is: What is the product that is to be marketed? Is it the vehicles: automobiles, buses, bicycles etc. or is it the infrastructure: road space allocation, traffic signals etc. or is it the ultimate goal: transport and mobility that are to be focused upon. In the past, the emphasis has been on vehicles and infrastructure whereas mobility marketing is a relatively new orientation. Mobility marketing includes all transport modes including walking (which does not require a vehicle for example) and regards infrastructure as a means to serve the mobility needs of the users. Mobility marketing should be the objective.

Although mobility is defined as the average number of daily trips per person, it may be more suitable to think in terms of mobility opportunities:

the individual's access to transport modes together with his or her economic and physical ability to engage in non-home activities.

This is because trips must be understood as links connecting nontravel activities (ie. trips are a derived demand). The trips that are necessary are dependant on the spatial structure of a city and on the extent of division of labour/specialisation of facilities. More trips are therefore not always better, rather they may be a symptom of inappropriate urban planning.

The opposite of mobility opportunities is mobility limited:

"Mobility limited" when applied to a large but unspecified number of people, implies that there is an inadequate match of available transportation to personal travel needs. This mismatch creates a social inequity for a segment of the population. It would seem that improvement in the transportation system should alleviate the inequities of mobility.

Urban mobility of goods
Just as it is important for humans to benefit from mobility- a prerequisite for the efficient utilization of goods is the ability to move these goods to the locations where they are required. The usual measure is ton kilometers, which by the way of measuring itself directs attention towards heavy goods and long-distance transport of those goods. On the contrary, non- motorized transport modes are most suited for the frequent, low-volume movements that are just as vital to the functioning of an urban economy.

A complete data set is needed
A similar distortion that can lead to the underestimation of the significance of non motorized transport modes is that trips are sometimes defined as only including trips that take longer than ten minutes or exceed a distance of e.g. 500m. The longer the time or distance chosen as a limitation, the less non-motorized modes and particularly walking play a role. Furthermore, although the usual modal split unit is the number of trips sometimes the number of kilometers traversed is used. This also gives a modified picture for non-motorized transport modes because those are generally used for shorter distances.

Looking at the transport phenomena from perspectives that are not commonly used, the role of pedestrians is surprisingly great, even in industrialized countries:

Germany:

• or every trip with a vehicle, there is a pedestrian portion at the beginning and at the end. Including these sub-trips, that are certainly relevant for planning purposes, results in pedestrian trips receiving of modal share of 80%.
• 42% of time spent on the road network is spent as a pedestrian.

Although the main product that should be focused upon is mobility, there are product items (walking, cycling, be driven, driving etc.) that have to be combined to form an appropriate product mix. There is no question that one can not regard one product item in isolation, rather the transport modes need to be integrated to achieve the mobility opportunities required for a functioning city.

Figure 1. The Urban Mobility Forum

In addition to the government, there are many non-motorized transport interest groups (refer to Figure 1), but they are fragmented and relatively weak in comparison to the motorized lobby. Non-motorized modes have thus far not been marketed systematically for lack of a "marketer"/organized proponents. In a few cases these fragmented groups have been able to join forces to the benefit of non-motorized transport modes. They have not as yet combined pedestrian/cyclist/other non-motorized transport modes interest groups, however.

Germany:
The German model project "Towns for cyclists" ... an institute was appointed for the social and statistical monitoring and the approach was highly participatory by involving many groups in the municipality.

Modal split has always been an indicator of market share in the transport sector. In the past, modal splits often failed to include non motorized transport modes. Even more recently, this mistake can still be encountered:

India:
In a recent study of 12 major cities in India conducted by the government of India there is no mention of pedestrians, although pedestrian trips could vary from 40-70 percent of average daily traffic.

Nowadays it is more common to include pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds/motorcycles whereby other non-motorized transport modes such as carts mostly remain uncounted. Thus little data is available on the use of other non-motorized modes, such as hand carts and bullock carts. It can be a sort of a vicious circle when the lack of data results in other studies forgetting or hardly mentioning these transport modes.

There is still no standard procedure pertaining to the presentation of modal splits. Partially this can be explained by the very different make-up of the transportation phenomena from city to city, and sometimes it reflects the biases of the transportation planner. In the final analysis it is a matter of judgement which categories are chosen. For example, summarizing private cars together with trucks is questionable since cars are generally for personal transport whereas trucks are primarily used for the transport of goods.

An accurate account of the modal split including all transport modes is necessary in order to determine where change is feasible or where the modal split is likely to remain constant. Transport modes have to be seen as being in competition to each other or sometimes as being complementary, but always in relation to one another.

There are two methods of determining the modal split - either traffic count or HH survey. In both cases biases can occur:

1. Traffic count:
   Specific road types attract certain transport mode users. Traffic counts often underreport non-motorized trips because most non motorized transport trips are of a shorter distance.
2. Household survey:
   Since income level affects mobility patterns significantly, asking only high-income users for eg. distorts the picture Sample size also influences the reliability of both means of determining the modal split.

In Graz, Austria , they have a very useful sort of graphic presentation which includes the concept of mobility and the tranport modes as well.

More recent transport study approaches include target modal splits for the future. These target market shares are in accordance with the goals these countries have set for themselves (for eg. for cycling in Lima (Peru) or Cuba). The planning department's task is then how to achieve these objectives with the measures at their disposal.

Lima, Peru:
Because the demand is so high, and because of the lack of means of transport, the Major of Lima, on Aug.20 1992, created the Municipal Program of Non-Motorized Transport to achieve within a 3-year period a situation whereby 10 per cent of Lima`s population travels by bike. This plan introduces and arranges the alternative of cycleway transport, and illustrates the necessary conditions that will allow the bicycle acceptance by the population in Lima in all its diverse social strata.

Non motorized transport modes vary significantly in importance in different cities around the world. This is the case for pedestrian as well as cyclist market shares. Different methodology in determining modal splits make comparisons somewhat problematic (refer to difference between traffic counts and household surveys and different or incomplete categorization).

Tamale, Ghana:
The discrepancy between the traffic count and the home interviews can be explained by the fact that the traffic count only included vehicles, thereby overlooking the numerous pedestrians (Gruehl Kipke, Barbara)

Notable is nevertheless the continued significance of non motorized transport modes in industrialized countries. The importance of cycling in Asia is a positive example of cycling's potential.

Total urban transport demand can be subdivided in a number of ways:

income	low, medium, high
age	child, economically active adult, elderly
gender	male, female
type	transport of people, transport of goods
occupation	pupil/student, government employee, informal sector
experience	no bicycle experience, experienced rider
trip purpose	work trips, trips to school, recreation, visits
mode users	walkers, cyclists, bus riders, taxi patrons, drivers, passengers
etc.

At present the non motorized transport modes mainly serve the urban poor in developing countries ie. the market is segmented according to income.

Studies have already applied market segmentation inadvertently in cases where the modal split was analysed in terms of various aspects such as income, trip purpose, geographic area, trip length for example. Some studies have segmented the market even further by subdividing the modal split by two factors (eg. income and trip purpose, HH position and trip purpose).

Access of bicycles by women is sometimes mentioned as a side-line comment in various studies but there fails to be an in-depth analysis of their situation. In developing countries they constitute the major group of "mobility limited" that warrant studies to be undertaken in future on how to improve their lot. It is also evident from what little is known about women and bicycles that there is potential for women to become equal users of this appropriate technology (refer to areas where bicycle usage by women is commonplace-Burkina Faso, China, U.S., Netherlands etc.). The market share of non-motorized transport modes could be improved substantially if women were to gain mobility through the adoption of this new technology for them. Women constitute a large group of non-users that should be targeted.

An aid to clarifying present market segmentation can be the determination of an "average" user profile. E.g.:

Tanzania:
Results from a survey among bicyclists in seven Tanzanian towns, indicate that the "average" urban cyclist is a 30-year-old male with a monthly net income of $90 (well above the minimum wage of $60) who uses his bicycle mainly for work-related purposes.

In a similar manner, future user profiles for various modes can be targeted. The implication that user profiles need not remain static.

Nairobi:
As Obiero rightly points out, latent demand for cycling in Nairobi is evident:

1. Many people walk long distances. They provide a large potential market for cycling if the conditions are right.
2. Many people who travel in packed public transport vehicles are also a potential market for cycling.

It is a matter of motivating these target markets to use a more appropriate non motorized transport mode.

Images of non-motorized modes
Once the target market(s) have been decided upon, the next step is the positioning of the various modes. Examples of some of the possibilities:

1. Germany:
   Bicycle manufacturers' associations and governments also promote the use of bicycles for different reasons: The contribution of the bicycle to health is undeniable, especially with regard to the prevention of ailments common to industrialized societies.
2. Finnland:
   Nature is very important to Finnish people and we try to highlight this when marketing cycling. When cycling to work one can listen to singing birds in the forest or on the seaside, instead of sitting in a metalbox. We also highlight the freedom of cycling.
3. El Salvador:
   CESTA has embedded the whole promotion approach into a larger ecological awareness campaign of national significance.
4. Central America:
   In neighbouring countries (Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador) "fun -bikes" (racingbike, mountainbike,BMX etc.) are more popular than ordinary bikes.
5. Poor man's vehicle
6. Democratic vehicle

The positioning of the various modes is the basis for advertising/awareness campaigns that can also aim at increasing social acceptance of the modes.

Terminology can represent a form of marketing. Unfortunately non motorized transport modes are presently defined as if they were lacking something: a motor, which does not suggest the positive qualities of these modes. In industrialized countries, non motorized transport modes are sometimes called green modes (thereby positioning these modes as the ecological modes). Maybe there are suitable Suaheli words that could be used to re-position non motorized transport modes in terms of features relevant to the African situation.

Examples of marketing that are of special interest to this study exist, but usually do not represent an integrated approach to-date:

1. a study on marketing in Africa which is unusual in so far as Africa is not considered a large potential market due to low-income levels and has thus not received much attention from companies etc.Specific marketing to suit African conditions is required due to the uniqueness of the continent as well as the individual countries.
2. a study on marketing from the bicycle industry perspective which is special in the sense that the bicycle industry is rather production-oriented and has thus far developed little marketing expertise. It is therefore not surprising that the bicycle industry did not commission this study.
   Note the emphasis on the 4 P's.
3. a study on marketing bicycles in Kenya written by the German trade department. This short overview also follows the product, place, price and promotion schemata.
4. Marketing concepts are also being applied by user groups to promote their cause (eg. "The 5 E's of Cycling": encouragement, education, example, events, and engineering).
5. City councils have started promoting bicycle-usage in a systematic way in some American and European cities. These cities often appoint bicycle program managers. Product managers for pedestrian issues in transportation planning departments are hard to find (and often responsible for both cyclist/ pedestrian issues).

It will be useful to appoint several product managers (pedestrian product manager, bicycle coordinator, etc.) who are responsible for major transport modes (both present and future) with a substantial market share . The needs of the different transport modes are quite different and should find adequate representation in the transportation planning departments and forums.
Finally, a package of measures will have to be decided upon to encourage non motorized transport usage. Promotional activities in other countries can be an inspiration. Since non motorized transport promotion is in its infancy, there is ample room for creativity.

Scenarios for future mobility will need to include non motorized transport modes. These modes are here to stay for a variety of reasons. The question is what role they are to play in the urban transport scene.
There is a need to change the transport system in order that it can function efficiently and serve the population as a whole.

In the past, the motorization lobby has dominated the transportation planning process. Partially this is due to misconceptions on the part of transportation planners that non-motorized transport modes are not "modern". In fact, these modes play an important role in many industrialized countries including Germany and Japan. Other misconceptions of transportation planners can only be overcome through market research.

In the end it will be the consumer who decides whether the strategies and actions are accepted. Measures affecting demand will therefore be most effective to promote the non-motorized transport modes.

Women's attitudes towards bicycles vary with their culture and tradition, exposure to other women riding bicycles, social situation, economic situation, terrain and infrastructure. In table 2 we have listed a diverse mixture of observations on women and bicycles, that has been gathered from a variety of sources.

Table 2: Women and cycling, "faits divers"

Transport of goods
Reducing the burden of carrying heavy loads could improve women's general health. As a result of head- loading, many women suffer cervical spondylosis and have a higher incidence of spinal deformities.

Constraints
Women in many places do not use bicycles because it is not accepted culturally. The main reason for this, however, is that they do not have access to a bicycle.
The constraints upon greater use of bicycles by women can be divided into four main categories: culture, technical constraints, economic factors, infrastructure.
Except where cultural mores prohibit their use, these low-cost vehicles could ease in particular the daily ordeal endured by women.

Possible solutions
In terms of reducing the transport burden on women, the challenge lies in working with local women's groups to identify the most appropriate intervention for each area and to assist them in bringing about sustainable improvements.
In the case of women, the types of bicycles chosen or the size of back frame selected should be designed to accommodate the size and strength of the user and consider the intended use of the vehicle.
Bicycle usage could be encouraged through cultural change, technical improvements, credit programmes, improvements of roads and footpaths.
The issue of affordability is especially acute for women as many must give their income to the male head of the household or need his consent to obtain credit. The provision of credit for individual women, therefore, should be a priority.

Africa
In most African countries, men make use of the few bicycles available while women, who do the work, could put the bicycle to better use.
Not only is this due to a difference in social status within the household, the absence of ladies' models and simple provision to carry babies makes it virtually impossible for women to use bicycles. Many African women do not ride bicycles for reasons of propriety or religion or because of encumbering clothing.
African tradition puts an inordinate burden on women as the primary haulers of fuel, water, food and babies and guardians of health care for children. Yet tradition seems to have extended to them the least benefits from new technologies, including the wheel and labour saving transport as basic as the bicycle.

Makete District, Tanzania
Of total time spent on household transport, women and girls are responsible for approximately 79 percent, and then carry 90% of the total volume.

Beira, Mozambique
In Beira it was found that cultural mores do not favour women using bicycles - a woman on a bicycle was viewed as "unladylike".

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Both men and women use the bicycle, even while wearing long traditional clothing.

Ghana
Women in Tamale do not use bicycles at all, even though they have to traverse long distances.
Women in Northern Ghana who did not ride bicycles before, have taken to bicycle riding and using trailers.

U.S.
55% of the cyclists in the U.S. are women.

The Netherlands
There are 10% more female bicycle users than male.

Shanghai, China
The results revealed that bicycles in Shanghai are used by all commuters irrespective of their sexes and ages (60% male, 40% female bicycle users). Males usually ride longer trips than their female counterparts, of which their average trip distances were 5.8 km and 4.9 km, respectively.

Delhi/Jaipur/Hyderabad, India
In all three cities no female was observed cycling a bicycle though many were passengers riding on the rear of the cycle or cross bar.

Hanoi, Vietnam
Women cycling in Hanoi. In any case, women's bicycles are generally preferred over men's bicycles, since they can be used by both sexes.

Penang, Malaysia
They are principally ridden by boys and men, and the few women that ride bicycles must wear western dress.

Bangladesh
The Grameen Bank...The bicycle loans are given mostly to women's groups of four; only when the first two have paid back their loan, do the other two women get theirs.

Finally, a summary of the suggestions presented in this chapter:
Activity-based approaches are required in order to understand travel behaviour adequately.

User perspective
Certainly these mobility issues from the user's perspective need to be covered in any study: safety, time factor, convenience/ comfort, expense, social acceptance, theft and distances. Users have very different opinions of a transport mode than non-users. In order to be able to influence modal split, it is necessary to know what these differences are and act accordingly.

Marketing
The societal marketing concept appears most relevant.
Mobility marketing should be the objective.
Mobility limited needs to be overcome. In developing countries women constitute the major group of "mobility limited" that warrant studies to be undertaken on how to improve their lot.
Product managers
A useful form of presentation that combines the concept of mobility and modal split over time exists. This form of presentation could also be used to compare the present situation to future scenarios.

Market segmentation
An aid to clarifying present market segmentation can be the determination of an "average" user profile. In a similar manner, a future user profile for various modes can be targeted. Once the target market(s) have been decided upon the next step is the positioning of the various modes. Last but not least, promotional measures to encourage the use of non-motorized transport modes can be decided upon.