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Title:

Electronic Communication in Social Networks and Implications for Travel

Accession Number:

01099623

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

Although the spectacular spread of wired and wireless communication technologies such as the Internet and mobile phone have been discussed extensively in the academic literature, knowledge of the interactions among face-to-face (F2F) and electronic communication modes and their implications for travel behavior is rather limited. The same is true for knowledge about factors influencing the choice for these types of communication. Using survey data collected among 662 respondents, this paper aims to gain more insight into (i) the interaction between F2F and electronic contacts, (ii) the influence of information content and relational distance on the choice of the communication mode/service, and (iii) the influence of relational and geographical distance, in addition to various other factors, on the frequency of F2F and electronically mediated contacts with relatives and friends. Bivariate correlation analysis indicates that the frequency of F2F contacts is positively correlated with that for electronic communication, which points at a generation effect. With respect to the impact of information content and relational distance, the authors find that such synchronous modes/services as F2F and telephone conversations are used more for urgent matters and that asynchronous modes (especially e-mail) become more influential as the relational distance or closeness in the social network increases. Finally, ordered probit analyses confirm that both F2F and electronic communication frequencies decline with increasing physical and relational distance to the social network members.

Monograph Accession #:

01084478

Report/Paper Numbers:

08-1262

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Tillema, Taede
Dijst, Martin
Schwanen, Tim

Pagination:

17p

Publication Date:

2008

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 87th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2008-1-13 to 2008-1-17
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

DVD

Features:

Figures (1) ; References (55) ; Tables (6)

Subject Areas:

Highways; Society; I10: Economics and Administration

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2008 Paper #08-1262

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jan 29 2008 3:37PM