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The interactions between online shopping and personal activity travel behavior: an analysis with a GPS-based activity travel diary

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Abstract

Accompanying the widespread use of the Internet, the popularity of e-commerce is growing in developing countries such as China. Online shopping has significant effects on in-store shopping and on other personal activity travel behavior such as leisure activities and trip chaining behavior. Using data collected from a GPS-based activity travel diary in the Shangdi area of Beijing, this paper investigates the relationships between online shopping, in-store shopping and other dimensions of activity travel behavior using a structural equation modelling framework. Our results show that online buying frequency has positive effects on the frequencies of both in-store shopping and online searching, and in-store shopping frequency positively affects the frequency of online searching. Frequent online purchasers tend to shop in stores on weekends rather than weekdays. We also found a negative effect of online buying on the frequency of leisure activities, indicating that online shopping may reduce out-of-home leisure trips.

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Acknowledgments

The research presented in this paper is funded by Key Projects in the National Science and Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Five-year Plan Period. The authors thank the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) for provision of funds.

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Correspondence to Yu Ding.

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Ding, Y., Lu, H. The interactions between online shopping and personal activity travel behavior: an analysis with a GPS-based activity travel diary. Transportation 44, 311–324 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-015-9639-5

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