The Influence of Identity on Travel Behaviour Jennifer Carole Brooks Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD Department of Town and Regional Planning University of Sheffield February 2011 Abstract This thesis uses qualitative methodology to explore the role of identity shaping travel behaviour at an individual level, with a particular interest in the role of environmental values given their significance within environmental behaviour change policy. Awareness raising and „smarter choices‟ are increasingly being considered as positive ways to reduce individual reliance on motorised transport through promoting value change and information about transport options. However, there is now widespread acknowledgement that environmental values are not a sufficient motive for pro-environmental behaviour – the so called „value action gap‟. Research around the value action gap has increasingly moved towards a marketing approach of segmenting the population into a series of groups with defined characteristics who are assumed to behave in similar ways. This research applies a social psychological perspective based on Harré‟s (2001) „standard model‟ of identity to answer the question: „what is the role of identity in shaping travel behaviour?‟ The relationships between aspects of identity are explored through three themes drawn from the research: environmental values; the significance of place; and relationships with other people. In order to promote a participant-directed approach, photo elicitation methods were used with twelve participants, which then established the basis for subsequent in-depth interviews with each participant. The research establishes that identity forms an overarching framework within which decisions around travel behaviour takes place. This framework of identity includes attitudes, values, experiences, skills, and relationships with other people. Pro-environmental travel behaviour can be encouraged by influencing the identity framework, for example by promoting the development of cycling skills in children, and giving young people a store of experiences of using public transport to draw from later in life. 2 Acknowledgements I‟d like to thank my succession of supervisors for their advice and much needed support during this PhD. Steve Connelly has shown commitment and enthusiasm for my research, and much patience throughout the whole process. Paula Meth has added insight and sense since her arrival. Libby Porter made a valuable contribution in the middle, and Tim Richardson started the whole thing off in the first place. Graeme Sherriff, Katie McClymont Sara Fuller and Kate Gridley read draft chapters – their comments were much appreciated. Thanks also go to the twelve participants for cheerfully giving up their time to take photographs and talk to me. I‟d like to thank the lively and supportive community of research students for making things bearable and sometimes even fun. In particular, to Sara Fuller and Paul O‟Hare for beer in the beginning, Dave Vanderhoven and Kirsten Owen for tea and cake at the end, and Matt Thompson for averting numerous technical disasters. Thanks are also due to my marvellous office mates, particularly Ian Elsmore for his witty enthusiasm for things non-PhD, Deepak Gopinath for his wise words, and Katie McClymont for many distractions and much talk of knitting. I‟m also exceptionally grateful for my cheery virtual support teams, who have encouraged me to „work at it slowly‟, and told me I‟d always get there in the end. And finally, to Peter, for holding my hand and believing I could do it, even when I didn‟t believe it myself. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Figures 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 9 1.1 Rationale 9 1.2 Approach 10 1.3 Structure 10 Chapter 2: Transport policy and environmental behaviour 13 2.1 Introduction 13 2.2 Transport policy 13 2.2.1 Predict and provide 14 2.2.2 The new realism 16 2.2.3 Beyond the new realism? 18 2.2.4 Conclusions 20 2.3 Government attempts to change behaviour 20 2.3.1 Promoting pro-environmental behaviour 21 2.3.2 Changing travel behaviour 31 2.3.3 Conclusions 35 2.4 Market segmentation 35 2.4.1 Segmentation in travel behaviour research 35 2.4.2 Pro-environmental behaviour segments 37 2.4.3 Travel behaviour segments 40 2.5 Conclusions 45 Chapter 3: Individuals and identity 47 3.1 Introduction 47 3.2 Travel behaviour and everyday life 48 3.2.1 Time and space 48 3.2.2 Telecommunications and travel 53 3.2.3 The changing nature of places 58 4 3.2.4 Contradictions 61 3.2.5 Conclusions 63 3.3 Identity 63 3.3.1 Ontology 64 3.3.2 The development of a specific theoretical approach 67 3.4 Conclusions 75 Chapter 4: Methodology 77 4.1 Introduction 77 4.2 The pilot study 77 4.2.1 Framework 77 4.2.2 The use of travel diaries in the pilot study 79 4.2.3 The use of self directed photography in the pilot study 84 4.2.4 The pilot interviews 86 4.2.5 Conclusions of the pilot study 88 4.3 The development of the conceptual framework 88 4.4 The research process 93 4.4.1 Selecting and recruiting the participants 93 4.4.2 The use of self directed photography 94 4.4.3 The interviews 104 4.4.4 Analysis 107 4.4.5 Ethical considerations 108 4.5 Conclusions 109 Chapter 5: Introducing people 110 5.1 Introduction 110 5.2 Vignettes 111 5.3 Attitudes to transport 123 5.3.1 Public transport 123 5.3.2 Active transport 131 5.3.3 Private transport 135 5.3.4 Aeroplanes 138 5.4 Conclusions 138 Chapter 6: Environmental values 140 5 6.1 Introduction 140 6.2 Environmental values as part of identity 141 6.3 Value orientations 145 6.3.1 Biospheric value orientation, or feeling part of nature 149 6.3.2 Social altruistic value orientation, or looking out for other 151 generations 6.3.3 Egoistic value orientation, or looking out for oneself 151 6.3.4 An ethic of common sense or frugality? 152 6.4 How environmental values shape travel behaviour 154 6.4.1 When values influence action 154 6.4.2 When values do not influence action 157 6.4.3 Actions without values 159 6.5 Conclusions 161 Chapter 7: Place 163 7.1 Introduction 163 7.2 Physical reality and the relationship with place 164 7.2.1 Physical traits 164 7.2.2 Infrastructure and traffic as barriers 168 7.2.3 Places meeting needs 171 7.2.4 Summary 174 7.3 Interaction with place 175 7.3.1 Feelings about places 176 7.3.2 Emotional attachment to place 181 7.4 Conclusions 186 Chapter 8: People 187 8.1 Introduction 187 8.2 Obligations to others and constraints on travel behaviour 187 8.2.1 Travelling with children 188 8.2.2 Visiting family 194 8.3 Influence of family and gaining independence 197 8.4 Positioning and travel behaviour 201 8.5 Conclusions 205 6 Chapter 9: Conclusions 206 9.1 Introduction 206 9.2 The role of identity in shaping travel behaviour 207 9.2.1 Self 1: physical embodiment 208 9.2.2 Self 2: the internal self 208 9.2.3 Self 3: the external self 210 9.2.4 Summary 212 9.3 Themes emerging from the research 213 9.3.1 Environmental values 214 9.3.2 The significance of place 216 9.3.3 Relationships and other people 218 9.3.4 Changes over time 220 9.4 Reflections on the conceptual framework 220 9.5 Wider implications of the research 223 9.6 Concluding remarks 226 References 227 Appendices 239 Appendix 1: Table of participants’ characteristics 239 Appendix 2: Participant information sheet 241 Appendix 3: Mind map of analysis codes 243 Appendix 4: Table of participants’ travel behaviour 244 7 List of figures Figure 4.1 A conceptual model of multiple identity dimensions 79 Figure 4.2 Louise‟s photo of what used to be a row of local shops 98 Figure 4.3 Andrew‟s photograph of a fast road 99 Figure 4.4 Lindsay‟s husband‟s photo of litter on a train seat 102 Figure 5.1 Emma‟s comfortable footwear 111 Figure 5.2 The accessible bridge on Paul‟s journey to town 118 Figure 5.3 Donald at a cycling exhibition 119 Figure 5.4 Jim‟s narrowboat on the canal 121 Figure 5.5 Jim‟s view from the bus window 125 Figure 6.1 Jim‟s view from the viaduct 142 Figure 7.1 Donald‟s photo of barriers along a cycle path 168 Figure 7.2 Louise‟s local shops 172 Figure 7.3 Louise‟s newly regenerated town centre 179 Figure 7.4 Near Louise‟s house 182 Figure 7.5 The steps to the canal where Jim‟s boat is moored 185 8 1. Introduction 1.1 Rationale Awareness of the environmental problems caused by road traffic is increasing. The DfT (2009a, p2) found that „the vast majority of adults believed that the world and UK climate was being affected‟, with „around 70% spontaneously selecting emissions from road transport as a cause of climate change‟ (ibid). As of September 2008, 192 developed and industrialised countries had ratified the Kyoto Protocol to achieve emission reduction targets (Friends of the Earth, 2008). Travel behaviour poses significant environmental problems, and is also intricately bound with the actions of everyday lives: visiting friends and relatives, buying food, working life and leisure activities. There are conflicts at a global level between increasing mobility for all and the environmental consequences of this, and at an individual level, between environmental values and the „coercion‟ of the flexibility and convenience of the car (Urry, 2005).