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Driving Pleasure: A Key Concept in Swedish Car Culture
Abstract
For the last decades ‘driving pleasure’ has been one of the most common arguments in Swedish car advertising. Almost every car is marketed as a pleasure to drive. It is also treated as the single most important characteristic of each car in test runs in the motor press. In both these contexts the definition of driving pleasure focuses on engine power, speed and driveability. This contrasts with the definitions of driving pleasure that ordinary car users present in interviews. They focus on situational aspects, such as road quality, weather conditions, aim of the journey, traffic intensity and so on. This article discusses these different definitions of driving pleasure and how they relate to each other.
... Current scholarship describes "driving" as a mundane, everyday practice that has sunk into our technological unconsciousness, becoming automatic and trivial (Hagman 2010;Merriman 2007). Drivers embody and are embodied by the car, so that the driver and the car generate a type of "person-thing" (Dant 2004;Katz 2000;Thrift 2004) and can be seen as a hybrid acting according to one or several scripts (Akrich 1992;Latour 1992;Michael 2000). ...
... The joy of driving, part of this emotional investment, is a major affective motive for car use (Steg 2005). Driving pleasure, defi ned in advertising and motor journalism by engine power, speed, and drivability, has been a key concept in Swedish car culture and is one of the most commonly used arguments in car advertising (Hagman 2010). However as pointed out by Sheller (2004), car consumption is always a mixture of rational choices, aesthetics, emotions, sensory responses and social responsibilities. ...
... In addition, it can be diffi cult to separate the value of the driving itself from the characteristics and values of other activities in connection to driving (Handy et al. 2004) such as the aim of the journey. This perspective also supports Hagman's (2010) work, which demonstrates that user-defi ned driving pleasure is not linked to driving a particular car but rather to various external and situational aspects such as road quality and traffi c intensity. Based on these insights from the literature, in this article we explore whether electric vehicles, which are potentially provided with scripts differing from conventional cars, may constitute a different "person-thing" or a new type of hybrid. ...
This article focuses on the introduction of electric vehicles in Norway and how electrical cars are understood culturally in relation to conventional car use. Theoretically, elements of social practice theory and the analysis of processes of domestication are combined to frame practical, cognitive, and symbolic dimensions of electric car use. The empirical data consists of individual and focus group interviews with electric car users. The analysis unpacks the implications of user-designated meaning in driving practices, competencies considered necessary when driving electric cars, and the material aspects regarded as critical features of electric car driving. Preliminary findings suggest that the practice of electric car driving alters user habits by making transportation needs more salient and raises both the technological and energy consumption awareness of users.
... Samochody potrzebują bowiem dużo przestrzeni w ruchu i na parkingach 1 . Kultura samochodowa (Hagman, 2010; Otchere-Darko i Atuahene, 2015) w Polsce powoduje więc nierównowagę podaży przestrzeni i popytu na nią zróżnicowanych użytkowników infrastruktury transportowej i komunikacyjnej w mieście. Kształtuje też percepcję użytkowników przestrzeni miejskiej i wpływa na to, jak ją indywidualnie postrzegają i oceniają w codziennym użytkowaniu (Jałowiecki i Szczepański, 2006, s. 38-39). ...
... Korzystanie z auta w połączeniu kierowca -samochód stało się więc integralną cechą życia społecznego (Dant, 2004, s. 75). Efektywny rozwój miast wymaga jednak takich koncepcji mobilności (Gadziński i Goras, 2019, s. 5), które pomogą zmniejszyć liczbę przejazdów samochodem (Hagman, 2010) i pozwolą zmniejszyć takie uciążliwości nadmiernego poruszania się autem w miejskiej przestrzeni publicznej, jak zanieczyszczenie powietrza czy kongestia. W związku z tym tworzenie systemu transportowego, który zdywersyfikuje formy mobilności i zrównoważy różne formy mobilności mieszkańców w strefie zurbanizowanej, wymaga obecnie ułatwień w korzystaniu z rozwiązań multimodalnych typu: transport publiczny, ruch rowerowy, mikromobilny (UTO) oraz pieszy (Gadziński i Goras, 2019, s. 8). ...
... Positives Fahrerleben beeinflusst die Wahl unserer Verkehrsmittel (Mokhtarian und Salomon 2001;Steg 2005) und ist ein "zentraler Faktor für den Erfolg eines Automobils" (Tischler und Renner 2007, S. 105). Der Begriff Fahrspaß wird von Medien und Herstellern in diesem Zusammenhang häufig verwendet (Hagman 2010). Fahrspaß wird dabei von den Herstellern vor allem in Verbindung mit den fahrdynamischen Eigenschaften des Pkws gebracht. ...
... Fahrspaß ist, neben den Charakteristiken des Fahrzeuges und des Individuums bzw. Fahrers, vor allem von den zugrundeliegenden Umgebungsbedingungen (Dimension Umwelt) abhängig (Hagman 2010 ...
Zusammenfassung
Positives Fahrerleben ist ein zentraler Faktor, der die Wahl unserer Verkehrsmittel beeinflusst. Vor dem Hintergrund neuer, innovativer Möglichkeiten der Fortbewegung, wie dem automatisierten Fahren, stellt sich die Frage, was positives Fahrerleben ausmacht. Das Ziel dieses Beitrags ist zu bestimmen, warum der Mensch den Pkw als Verkehrsmittel bevorzugt und welche Faktoren bei der Nutzung verschiedener Verkehrsmittel zum Fahrspaß beitragen. Zur Klärung dieser Fragen wurden literaturbasiert Faktoren abgeleitet, die den Fahrspaß unterschiedlicher Verkehrsmittelnutzer prägen. Diese wurden anhand einer Befragungsstudie (nges = 334) empirisch untersucht. Unterschiede hinsichtlich des Fahrspaßes von Verkehrsmittelnutzern wurden analysiert. Zusammenhangsanalysen legten Faktoren offen, die zum Fahrspaß von Verkehrsmittelnutzern beitragen. Die Analyse hinsichtlich des Fahrspaßes zeigt, dass sich die Einflussfaktoren in die Dimensionen Fahrer, Fahrzeug und Umwelt gliedern lassen. Einflüsse von soziodemografischen Merkmalen, sowie Merkmalen der Fahrt und den Eigenschaften des Pkws auf den Fahrspaß konnten identifiziert werden.
Praktische Relevanz Die Beantwortung der Frage, was den Spaß beim Autorfahren im Vergleich zu der Nutzung anderer Verkehrsmittel ausmacht und die hier dargestellten Erkenntnisse können dazu beitragen, die Nutzung alternativer Verkehrsmittel attraktiver zu gestalten und so insbesondere in Gebieten mit starker Verkehrsdichte eine Entlastung der Straßen zu erreichen.
... These rules are typically based on the premise that people often fail to stay within designated speed limits, reflecting the common propensity for speeding among drivers. Interestingly, speed-related vehicle specifications are often emphasised as a major contributing factor of driving pleasure, particularly in the context of car advertising 1 . This is also indicative of the prevailing propensity for speeding in the general population. ...
... To validate our hypothesis, we used functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) to explore activation in response to visual inputs during high-speed driving within mesolimbic dopaminergic regions, the core of the brain reward system. This study had two specific aims: (1) to examine speed-related activation changes in mesolimbic dopaminergic regions of interest (ROIs) during the observation of driver-view videos and (2) to compare speeding-related activation changes between two groups that would be expected to differ in speeding propensity (participants with and without a self-reported interest in sports cars). ...
Despite the ubiquity and importance of speeding offenses, there has been little neuroscience research regarding the propensity for speeding among vehicle drivers. In the current study, as a first attempt, we examined the hypothesis that visual inputs during high-speed driving would activate the mesolimbic dopaminergic system that plays an important role in mediating motivational craving. To this end, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify speed-related activation changes in mesolimbic dopaminergic regions during the observation of driver-view videos in two groups that differed in self-reported speeding propensity. Results revealed, as we expected, greater activation in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in response to driver-view videos with higher speed. Contrary to our expectation, however, we found no significant between-group difference in speed-related activation changes in mesolimbic dopaminergic regions. Instead, an exploratory psychophysiological interaction analysis found that self-reported speeding propensity was associated with speed-related functional coupling between the VTA and the right intraparietal sulcus. Further validation of our hypothesis will require future studies examining associations between speed-related activation in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and individual differences in speeding propensity, using a more reliable measure of actual speeding propensity in real traffic.
... Speed and acceleration are also energy services, because they save time. Further, as Hagman [6] and Shelter [7] showed, for many drivers there are psychological pleasures associated with faster acceleration and higher speeds. A vehicle's average speed is determined by both acceleration and speed, so it seems reasonable to propose that 'average speed' is a further energy service, alongside distance travelled, that drivers get from their vehicles, and that this can also increase as a response to energy efficiency increases. ...
... Time has been regarded as an energy service [32], but so is enjoyment. Hagman [6] shows how 'driving pleasure' is one of the most common motifs in Swedish car advertising, with speed and engine power also consistently prominent. The intense emotional appeals of cars and driving, including 'the thrill of speed' and 'the whoosh of effortless acceleration' are explored in Sheller [7]. ...
The “rebound effect” occurs when reductions in energy consumption following energy efficiency increases are lower than engineering estimates. In cars this happens when drivers increase their distance travelled or average speed, as a behavioural response to cheaper travel. Rebound effects due to increased distance travelled have been extensively studied, but only one existing study attempts to quantify rebound effects due to increased average speed. This paper builds on that study, using a much larger empirical base and offering more generalised and more widely applicable mathematical modelling. It uses data from 30 Formula 1 Grand Prix time trial sessions of 10 vehicles doing 3 trials each, in 2014 and 2015. The heavily regulated Formula 1 regime, with its precisely measured data, provides a highly controlled framework for developing mathematics of average speed rebounds. The study thereby shows how speed and distance rebounds can be coherently combined in road vehicle travel to produce total rebound figures. It then shows how even small increases in average speed can nullify all the energy savings that are expected from energy efficiency increases. It also raises critical questions on the adequacy of proposed new road vehicle fuel efficiency testing procedures.
... The positive coefficient of travel time by car is in agreement with previous research that suggests that travelers may find a measure of enjoyment in their commute by this mode. This type of effect has been documented for users of motorized modes in various settings (Basmajian, 2010;Bergstad et al., 2011;Diana, 2008;Hagman, 2010;Mokhtarian and Salomon, 2001;Ory and Mokhtarian, 2005;Redmond and Mokhtarian, 2001;Steg, 2005). In general, the enjoyment and/or positive utility of time spent traveling by car is perceived as a challenge in terms of encouraging alternative transportation, since the effect implies that policies may not have the desired effect, or may fall short from providing the required incentives/disincentives to curb the use of cars (Choo et al., 2005;Steg, 2005). ...
... However, as Páez and Whalen (2010, p. 538) note, despite the growth of interest in the concept, there have been precious few attempts at independent empirical corroboration in other settings. Furthermore, most of the focus has been on travel by car (Basmajian, 2010;Bergstad et al., 2011;Diana, 2008;Hagman, 2010;Steg, 2005). While the positive utility of travel time by motorized modes had been explored in previous research, the only other paper of which we are aware that quantitatively investigates the enjoyment of traveling by active modes in Canada is that by Turcotte (2005). ...
In recent years, interest in the travel behavior of students in institutions of higher education has grown. It has been noted that students tend to use a variety of transportation modes, including active travel, more frequently than other population segments. Investigating the modal choice of university students provides a unique opportunity to understand a population that has a large proportion of active commuters at a major trip-generating location. In turn, this can provide valuable insights into the factors that influence active travel. In this paper, we report the results of a mode choice analysis among university students, using as a case study McMaster University, in Hamilton, Canada. The results from this research indicate that modal choices are influenced by a combination of cost, individual attitudes, and environmental factors such as street and sidewalk density. A key finding is that travel time by car and bicycle positively affect the utilities of these modes, although at a decreasing rate as travel time increases. While the positive utility of time spent traveling by car has been documented in other settings, our analysis provides evidence of the intrinsic value that cyclists place on their trip experience. Examples of transportation policy measures suggested by the analysis are discussed.
... The pleasure of driving is one of the best arguments for the sale of automobiles (Hagman 2010). The implementation of Automation technology of level 1 (Driving assistanceautomated acceleration or deceleration) and level 2 (Partial automationinterconnected devices reacting with the environment) was there to assist the driver while doing the simplest tasks and leaving the 'dynamic aspect of driving' for the driver (Schmitz 2020). ...
This study measures the relative importance of the determinants of the intentions to use autonomous vehicles. We hypothesize that the intention to use is influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease and that the perceived usefulness will be determined by driving pleasure and psychological ownership. The perceived risk may also negatively affect the intention to use autonomous vehicles. We also hypothesize that an external variable, public transportation, will too influence psychological ownership and the intention to use. We integrate this in a modified Technological Acceptance model. We use an online questionnaire to collect data. Based on our sample, we find that public transportation availability is not related to the intention to use and that psychological ownership is not associated with perceived ease of use. The significant direct relationships are that intention to use autonomous vehicles is influenced positively by psychological ownership, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use, and negatively by psychological driving pleasure and perceived risk. The primary recommendations for manufacturers of vehicles would be to indicate that the autonomous vehicle is not risky or that its risk is considerably less than that of a human-driven vehicle.
... In the field of driving safety studies, it has been shown that drivers who seek sensation are more likely to speed or report other aggressive driving behaviors (Jonah et al., 2001). Hagman (2010) also claimed that a similar term, "driving pleasure" was related to engine power, speed and driveability. Moreover, Tchetchik et al. (2020) defined "driving-hedonism" as the "the pleasure excitement, and enjoyment of driving.", and explored the impact of innovativeness and driving hedonism on user experience and pro-environmental attitudes of consumers choosing between ICEVs, battery EVs and hybrid EVs. ...
Eco-driving is one strategy for reducing transportation sector fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions. With the advancement of connected-vehicle technology, the dynamic eco-driving concept can utilize real-time vehicle-specific information to optimize vehicle speed, thereby further reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The objective of this research was to determine the elements that influence drivers' intentions to practice eco-driving and their acceptance of eco-driving technology. A theoretical model of technology acceptance for both internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) and electric vehicle (EV) drivers was built using a mix of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Goal Framing. Drivers’ acceptance of eco-driving system was hypothesized to be based on their intention to perform eco-driving. The model's validity was verified using a structural equation modeling analysis of data from a survey with 340 replies from ICEV drivers and 315 responses from EV drivers. The findings corroborated the original hypotheses in TAM and TPB, and drivers' intention to practice eco-driving had an indirect effect on their intention to utilize the system via the construct of perceived ease of use. In comparison to ICEV drivers, EV drivers possessed a greater understanding of eco-driving. The four goal framing structures each played a different role in the ICEV and EV models. In the ICEV model, the altruistic goal contributed positively to the social norm construct. By contrast, the social norm was positively influenced by the biospheric and the egoistic goals, and negatively influenced by the hedonic goal in the EV model. This study's framework and results provide theoretical and practical guidelines for researchers, manufacturers, and policy-makers to understand drivers' motivation to perform eco-driving and increase drivers' acceptance of the eco-driving system.
... Perceived behavioral control refers to the extent to which consumers feel they are in charge of the objects they are using (Collier and Sherrel, 2010). Behavioral control seems particularly relevant in car driving experience, which allows consumers to exert power and control over the vehicle they are driving by undertaking actions that make vehicles accelerate, swerve, and so on (Hagman, 2010). Change seeking refers to consumers' tendency to look for new and stimulating experiences (Garlington and Shimota, 1964). ...
This paper investigates the roles of product intelligence, change seeking, and behavioral control in determining consumers' intention to use Artificial Intelligence-based self-driving cars. In an experimental study conducted with a sample of 343 respondents, we show that consumers might feel more in control when driving such cars, and such an increased sense of behavioral control, in turn, is associated with an increased intention to use them. This likely happens because such vehicles are perceived as intelligent entities that allow drivers to personalize their driving experiences. However, this effect is significant only among individuals with a greater change seeking tendency, who thus are more inclined to try new experiences.
... Since the early twentieth century, Canadian cities have been designed for mobility almost exclusively by private vehicle, from the physical infrastructure to the predominating culture (Forstorp 2006;Hagman 2010;Miller and Ponto 2016). A condition has been created where it is expected that individuals will be dependent upon private vehicles. ...
In response to anthropogenic climate change, many governments are adopting policies to reduce carbon emissions. In Canada, federal and provincial governments have implemented carbon pricing. One of the effects of putting a price on carbon is increasing the cost of using private vehicles, which may reduce mobility and increase the risk of social exclusion, especially in contexts where car dependence is high. In this article, we analyse how municipal governments in Canada frame the challenges of climate change and reducing emissions, and examine whether they link these challenges to issues of mobility and social exclusion. Focusing on policies from four of Canada's largest cities – Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vancouver – we identify four main frames used in planning documents: “the Growing City”, “If You Build It, They Will Come”, “Better City for All”, and “the Resilient City”. The Growing City frame is used to support status quo urban development, with climate mitigation options (including sustainable travel modes) optionally included for more concerned residents. This is the dominant frame in Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Conversely, Vancouver uses the Resilient City frame to indicate that climate mitigation and adaption strategies are essential, and all citizens must be prepared for change. Vancouver presents changes to mobility as necessary for all, rather than an option for some. Social exclusion is not explicitly addressed in the frames, though it is presented as a reason to support building alternative transportation or more public spaces. Social exclusion receives little consideration as a potential consequence of climate mitigation policies.
... As Beckmann (2004: 83) posited, the car has a tendency to turn in on itself, and as such, 'enables and disables, individualises and reintegrates, liberates its users from one auto-centred spatio-temporality and coerces them into another'. Indeed, the act of driving, and the original promises of the motor car, including its ability to prompt feelings of independence, escapism and control (see Butler & Hannam, 2012;Gilbert & Abdullah, 2004;Hagman, 2010;White and White, 2004), are set to be further eroded by growing numbers of car users. Consequently, future tourist automobilities may involve banal practices and mundane performances with greater regularity, as drivers must negotiate growing traffic jams and the increasingly restrictive structured systems of the road both en route and at the destinations they visit (see Dickinson et al., 2009;Edensor, 2007;Featherstone, 2004;Hannam et al., 2014;Sheller, 2004;Urry, 2004Urry, , 2007. ...
This commentary reviews recent research in terms of tourist’s mobilities in terms practices of walking, cycling and driving. It concludes by reflecting on the contemporary lock down of travel in terms of the global pandemic and its consequences for waiting, stillness and immobility – particularly in terms of flying.
... Will books such as "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (Pirsig, 1974) be inspired by autonomous motorcycles? There is therefore an important hedonomic dimension to driving Hagman, 2010) which extends well beyond the mere utilitarian necessity to relocate persons and material from origin to destination. Of course, these pleasurable and hedonic values have to be set against the traditional concerns in driving for downsides such as pollution, driving's subsequent contribution to global warming, the problems of over-crowding and time-wasting in queues and gridlock etc. ...
This work considers the future of driving in terms of both its short- and long-term horizons. It conjectures that human-controlled driving will follow in the footsteps of a wide swath of other, now either residual or abandoned human occupations. Pursuits that have preceded it into oblivion. In this way, driving will dwindle down into only a few niche locales wherein enthusiasts will still persist, much in the way that steam train hobbyists now continue their own aspirational inclinations. Of course, the value of any such prognostication is in direct proportion to the degree that information is conveyed, and prospective uncertainty reduced. In more colloquial terms: the devil is in the details of these coming transitions. It is anticipated that we will see a progressive transformation of the composition of on-road traffic that will be registered most immediately in the realm of professional transportation in which the imperative for optimization exceeds that in virtually all other user segments. The transition from manual control to full automation will be more punctate than gradualist in its evolutionary development. As performance optimization slowly exhausts the commercial sector, it will progressively transition more into the discretionary realm by dint of simple technology transfer alone. The hedonic dimension of everyday driving will be dispersed and pursued by progressively fewer individuals. The traveling window of generational expectation will soon mean that human driving will be largely "forgotten," as each sequential generation matures without this, still presently common experience. Indications of this stage of progress are beginning to be witnessed in the demographic profile of vehicle usage and ownership rates. The purpose of the exposition which follows is to consider and support each of these stated propositions.
... Since flexible employment practices have co-evolved with increasing car ownership and use, this constitutes another mechanism for the escalation of car use for transport. There are also more embodied and "emotional" aspects of mobilities that are a coconstituting part of the establishment of automobility (see e.g., Dowling 2000;Bull 2004;Sheller 2004;Merriman 2009;Hagman 2010;Kent 2015). These characteristics have become associated with the private car, providing a certain way of satisfying needs that appeals to its users, contributing substantially to the lock-in of car ownership and use. ...
Contemporary consumption patterns, embedded in profit-maximizing economic systems, are driving a worsening socio-ecological crisis, in particular through the escalating production and consumption of goods with high material and/or energy intensity. Establishing minimum and maximum standards of consumption (or "consumption corridors") has been suggested as a way to address this crisis. Consumption corridors provide the normative basis for sustainable consumption, that is, enough consumption for individuals to satisfy needs, but not too much to collectively surpass environmental limits. Current consumption patterns (especially in the global North) do not yet fall within consumption corridors, and standards are not fixed over time. Consumption is socially constructed and can escalate due to socioeconomic , technological, or infrastructural influences. In this article, we propose a framework to understand such escalating trends. This approach can be used as a tool for comprehending how consumption evolves over time, as well as for identifying the most effective leverage points to intervene and prevent escalation from happening in the first place. We build on theories of human-need satisfaction and combine these conceptual understandings with insights from research on socio-technical provisioning systems, sociological approaches to consumption, and perspectives on infrastructure lock-in. We illustrate our framework by systemically considering escalation for a specific technological product-the private car.
... On the one hand, entertainment can originate from driving itself. This is a matter of comfort [30] and driving pleasure [31,32]. On the other hand, enjoyment can also be created by media entertainment [33,34], which focuses on the (positive) emotions that manifest themselves during reception by the recipients [35,36]. ...
It is a common behavior to enrich the automotive driving experience with various media services and applications. However, the effects of this habit are examined mostly from a safety perspective; there is a lack of scientific tools and methods to examine the joint media and driving experience. Therefore, to address Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) while driving from an experience perspective, the model of Mediatized Driver Experiences (MDX) is introduced. It offers a new framework to classify driving and media experiences. In focus are not (only) negative conjunctions (such as distractions), it is rather a holistic approach to the joint experience of the driving and media situation. Therefore, findings from both vehicle safety and communication science were incorporated to develop the MDX model. The model addresses the formation of subjective experiences through influencing factors including the driver as well as the driving, media and social situation. Enjoyment, agency and perceived safety form the subjective experience, hence, the MDX core. Each dimension underlies processes of self-regulation, cognitive processes and affective effects of the driver. The measured core dimensions are then used to classify and aggregate the individual experiences on a higher level.
... It could be argued that they do this merely to further their legitimate business interest of profit making by satisfying customer demands for more powerful cars. It is certainly well-attested that many car drivers get an emotional thrill from the acceleration that high horsepower brings (Hagman, 2009;Sheller, 2004;Dant, 2004). There may also be prestige value in being conveyed about town by more horsepower than the average drivera sentiment found as far back as Jane Austen's novels of the early 1900s (Byrne, 2015;Ewing, 2019) -a prime example being the super-rich Mr Bingley's "chaise and four (horses)", compared to the one-horse gigs of the middle-class. ...
Rebound effects occur when energy efficiency upgrades lead to less energy saving than anticipated, compromising CO2 emission reduction. Studies of micro-level rebounds frequently emphasise human agents' personal responsibility in causing or facilitating these rebounds. Studies of macro-level rebounds tend to focus instead on autonomous, depersonalised mechanisms through which energy efficiency increases lead to increased consumption of energy services, often via social structural changes. This leaves out the role of powerful human actors facilitating these structural changes and often reaping rich rewards for doing so. Here I depart from existing rebound effect approaches, drawing on Giddens’ structuration theory to offer a sociological account of how macro-level rebound effects occur. I argue that well-resourced actors co-opt energy efficiency increases to provide new or enhanced CO2-producing goods and services while fostering public desire for these and lobbying vigorously against tighter CO2 emissions standards. Hence these rebounds result from the actions of powerful actors manipulating social structure for personal or corporate reward. I illustrate this with the empirical example of macro-level rebound effects in the US car industry, also employing a radical departure from traditional rebound effect approaches. I argue that policymakers need to take the actions of these powerful individuals more seriously.
... The acceptance of AVs by consumers is considered to be one of its greatest challenges. The greatest sources of enjoyment when operating a car is the sensation of controlling the vehicle oneself [14]. In the case of AVs, this sensation will be lost. ...
... Esto se debe a que rara vez tenemos el tiempo, la capacidad o, francamente, la voluntad de armarnos con toda la información necesaria para sopesar perfectamente un producto contra el otro (Sassatelli, 2007, p. 63). Como recuerdan Sharps y Martin (2002), las personas a menudo toman decisiones sin referencia a información importante, incluso cuando dicha información está fácilmente disponible, adoptando un comportamiento que no resulta -aparentemente-racional (Dant, 2004;Hagman, 2010;Heisserer y Rau 2017, p. 582;Klöckner y Matthies, 2004). Se podría hablar de un comportamiento rutinario, un comportamiento que implica poca o ninguna deliberación y ninguna formación de intención, con la consecuencia de que las decisiones se revisan raramente (Gärling y Axhausen, 2003;Handy et al., 2005, p. 187;Heggie, 1979). ...
Este artículo tiene el objetivo de avanzar en el conocimiento de los factores que conducen a la elección del coche compartido (car sharing), en relación al uso del coche privado. En particular, analizaremos el rol de la (no) percepción de los costos asociados a la propiedad del coche sobre las prácticas de consumo y de movilidad alternativa. El estudio se basa en los resultados de un CATI que llevamos a cabo en esta área de mercado poco explorada en cuatro ciudades metropolitanas urbanas en Italia (Roma, Milán, Turín y Génova). Para este propósito, primero hicimos un análisis factorial exploratorio para determinar las dimensiones clave del comportamiento del coche privado. Luego realizamos un modelo de regresión logística para analizar qué factores pueden afectar la variable dependiente. Según nuestro análisis, el conocimiento de los costos asociados con el uso y la propiedad del coche no tiene importancia determinante ya que muchos de los usuarios de coche entrevistados tienden a subestimar el costo de poseer y de usar el automóvil.
... After all, a car can be a home away from home, a bastion of personal space, a safe haven, an escape from predictability, a means to meditate, a place to enjoy music, an expression of style, or simply a thing that can be fun to have in itself (cf. Collin-Lange, 2014;Hagman, 2010;Kent, 2015;Sheller, 2004). In this sense, journeying by car is closely linked to the experience of traveling in a foreign place and wanting to be somewhere else (than home) yet without being cut adrift from a familiar environment (Baranowski and Furlough, 2001). ...
The German Autobahn has inspired many people’s imagination with its lack of a general speed limit, the quality of its road surface as well as its allegedly well-behaved drivers. One of the consequences of this positive reputation has been the emergence of a phenomenon I would like to call “speed tourism.” In this article, I treat speed tourism as a special form of tourism that involves viewing the driving experience as an opportunity for either testing the capacity of one’s own car or driving it at high speed as a way of experiencing the native culture at firsthand. I explore speed tourism as an alternative way of getting to know the real Germany as a tourist. Based on an analysis of several of its peculiarities, I argue that the Autobahn can be understood as a location where tourists can mix with “locals” while keeping a distance from them, since the interaction is restricted to learning and obeying the country’s rules of the road. The Autobahn then becomes a time-bound “dream location” created by the ideal of limitless driving freedom on the one hand and the paradoxical requirement of unruliness in relation to strict rules on the other; together, these are believed to offer an “authentic” driving experience according to local cultural customs.
... Over time, the practice of driving an EV solidifies into a stronger affinity and identity as a particular type of user and it also reflects a higher degree of competence and consciousness. Knowledge about EVs, in other words, is strongly gleaned by using them, which can create momentum towards further reinforcing behavior [41,42]. ...
Electric vehicle Vehicle-grid integration Vehicle-to-grid Diffusion of innovations Low-carbon mobility Electrification of transport A B S T R A C T This study investigates the interconnected influence of socio-demographic, behavioral, economic, and technical factors associated with electric vehicle (EV) adoption interest and the influence of vehicle-to-grid mobility on preferences. Using hierarchical regression analysis, we examine the impacts of six dimensions relating to socio-demographic, technical, economic, and behavioral factors in a survey (n ¼ 4885) across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Our results show that younger males, with higher income, a higher number of children, and who had experiences with EVs, and generally hold sustainability values are positively related to potential EV adoption. Among electric mobility attributes, vehicle-to-grid capability and charging time are determined to be the influential predictors. Adding vehicle-to-grid capability can foster EV adoption in our analysis, considering it can add a revenue stream for EV owners. Individuals continue to use specific knowledge of conventional fuel vehicles when considering EVs and their attributes. Among all of our factors, the fuel economy, financial savings, and environmental value were the strongest predictors. In comparison, the driving range was ranked less critical to former EV owners than to a conventional car and current EV owners. Battery life was ranked more important to conventional fuel vehicle owners than current and former EV owners. Finally, former EV owners considered vehicle-to-grid to be more important than current EV and conventional car owners, implying that vehicle-to-grid could be the marginal incentive that would be the "tipping point."
... One effect of this lack of knowledge and information is that when consumers buy a vehicle, they do not have the basic building blocks of knowledge assumed by the model of economically rational decision-making, and they make large errors estimating gasoline costs and savings over time" (Turrentine & Kurani, 2007, p. 1213. As noted by Sharps and Martin (2002), people often make decisions without reference to important information, "even when such information is readily available", adopting a behaviour not resulting from conscious choices (Dant, 2004;Hagman, 2010;Heisserer & Rau, 2017;Klöckner & Matthies, 2004;Luckey, 2018); we may talk of a habitual behaviour, a behaviour which involves little or no deliberation and no formation of intention, with the consequence that choices are only infrequently re-evaluated (Garling & Axhausen, 2003;Handy, Mokhtarian, & Weston, 2005;Heggie, 1979). ...
This paper has two objectives. First, the paper aims to advance knowledge on factors that lead to the choice of car sharing, by proposing, for the first time a different perspective based upon the attitude towards the use of private car. Second, the study helps to understand the connection between the rate of penetration of car sharing services and the attitude towards the use of the private car, analysing also the socio-demographic influences on car-sharing behaviour.
The paper draws on the findings from a telephone-structured questionnaire we carried out in this under-explored market area in four urban metropolitan cities in Italy (Rome, Milan, Turin and Genoa). For this purpose, we firstly made an exploratory factor analysis to determine the key dimensions of private car behaviour. We then performed a logistic regression model in order to analyse which factors may affect the dependent variable.
... These latent predispositions towards car use are also propped up by a more conscious emotional affinity for driving [291,294], sometimes based on incidental elements of car travel, such as weather, road surface and the unique sonic environment provided by the vehicle [271,285,305]. This provides a powerful emotional and psychological attachment to driving, which alternative transport struggles to compete with. ...
Research on car dependence exposes the difficulty of moving away from a car-dominated, high-carbon transport system, but neglects the political-economic factors underpinning car-dependent societies. Yet these factors are key constraints to attempts to ‘decouple' human well-being from energy use and climate change emissions. In this critical review paper, we identify some of the main political-economic factors behind car dependence, drawing together research from several fields. Five key constituent elements of what we call the ‘car-dependent transport system’ are identified: i) the automotive industry; ii) the provision of car infrastructure; iii) the political economy of urban sprawl; iv) the provision of public transport; v) cultures of car consumption. Using the ‘systems of provision’ approach within political economy, we locate the part played by each element within the key dynamic processes of the system as a whole. Such processes encompass industrial structure, political-economic relations, the built environment, and cultural feedback loops. We argue that linkages between these processes are crucial to maintaining car dependence and thus create carbon lock-in. In developing our argument we discuss several important characteristics of car-dependent transport systems: the role of integrated socio-technical aspects of provision, the opportunistic use of contradictory economic arguments serving industrial agendas, the creation of an apolitical façade around pro-car decision-making, and the ‘capture’ of the state within the car-dependent transport system. Through uncovering the constituents, processes and characteristics of car-dependent transport systems, we show that moving past the automobile age will require an overt and historically aware political program of research and action.
... Here, it is argued that being in control of components of the journey, including velocities between waypoints, length of stays, and the company they engaged with are important factors of their travel goals (Oh, Assaf, & Baloglu, 2014). Previous studies observing tourist automobilities have additionally explored the fluid and dynamic trajectories tourists engage in when on holiday (See Butler & Hannam, 2012;Edensor, 2007;Hagman, 2010;Huijbens & Benediktsson, 2007;Lane & Waitt, 2007;Larsen, 2001;Page, 1999;Trauer & Ryan, 2005;White & White, 2004) and that many journeys encapsulate Larsen's (2001, p. 85) assertion that automobilities illustrate "a metaphor for nomadism … as they roam independently and unpredictably in, alongside and outside tourism's beaten tracks." ...
The Limestone Coast is a popular tourist region located on South Australia’s south-eastern border with Victoria and home to several nature-based tourist attractions, including Naracoorte Caves National Park (NCNP). Through the acquisition of qualitative materials from 29 self-drive domestic tourists that visited NCNP, this study observed that many tourists’ automobilities were punctuated by periods of “connection” and “disconnection” with the technologies that permeated their motor vehicles. Mediating both statuses posed paradoxical dilemmas, as embracing connectivity could reduce the risks of disappointment or “missing out,” whilst rejecting connectivity stimulated feelings of adventure as their encounters of rural Australia remained relatively unpredictable.
... Driving-hedonism: is the pleasure excitement, and enjoyment of driving. It Is related to engine power ('strong' and 'alert'), speed, driveability and other characteristics, such as the low center of gravity, engine thrust that are tempting into active driving, or just into more driving (Hagman, 2010). Similarl to the difference between 'product innovativeness' and 'innovativeness,' one can differentiate between 'product specific' and 'domain specific' driving hedonism. ...
The low penetration rate of electric vehicles (EVs) is raising concern among policy makers and car designers who face risky decisions whether to invest in EV technology and promotion. Traditionally, battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) were considered successive technologies. Yet, it is becoming apparent that in the next few decades these technologies will co-exist, which revives the interest in the choice amongst them. This study focuses on normative and hedonic goals to understand the impact of innovativeness and driving hedonism and their interaction with user experience and pro-environmental attitudes of consumers choosing between conventional, hybrid and electric cars. The behavioral model challenges utility-based models of auto propulsion choices by integrating hedonic goal-framing and its interaction with product experience into Rogers’ diffusion of innovation model. In a discrete choice experiment informed by stated-preference Bayesian efficient design among 309 participants, we find that the interaction between driving hedonism and BEV 'trialability' is positively related to the adoption of HEVs rather than of BEVs. Compared to environmental consumers who lack driving hedonism, the segment of innovative-environmentalists act as BEV adoption pioneers and the segment of innovative-environmentalist-hedonists are HEV adoption pioneers.
... Positives Fahrlerleben ist ein zentraler Faktor, der die Wahl unserer Verkehrsmittel beeinflusst (Mokhtarian & Salomon 2001, Steg 2005. Der Begriff Fahrspaß wird von Medien und Herstellern in diesem Zusammenhang häufig verwendet (Hagman 2010). Heute werden das Fahrerlebnis und der Fahrspaß insbesondere im Hinblick auf die immer weiter fortschreitende Automatisierung des Autofahrens diskutiert (vgl. ...
Kurzfassung: Positives Fahrerleben ist ein zentraler Faktor, der die Wahl unserer Verkehrsmittel beeinflusst. Vor dem Hintergrund neuer, innovativer Möglichkeiten der Fortbewegung, wie dem automatisierten Fahren, stellt sich die Frage, was positives Fahrerleben ausmacht und mit welchen Fortbewegungsmitteln Fahrspaß erreicht werden kann. Zur Klärung dieser Frage wurde eine Befragung mit 334 Teilnehmern durchgeführt. Es zeigt sich, dass unterschiedliche Verkehrsmittel zu starken Unterscheidungen beim erlebten Fahrspaß führen. Einflüsse von soziodemografischen Merkmalen auf den Fahrspaß konnten identifiziert werden. Der Fahrspaß bei der aktiven und passiven Nutzung von Verkehrsmitteln unterscheidet sich grundlegend. Dieses Ergebnis kann eine wichtige Rolle im Zuge der Automatisierung des Fahrens spielen, da sich die PKW-Nutzung von einer aktiven hin zu einer passiven Verkehrsmittelnutzung wandelt.
... In the past, most people have considered driving their own car to be a source of pleasure (e.g. Hagman, 2010), associated with the feeling of being at home (Dubois & Moch, 2006), and not only as an effective means of transportation. In the future, vehicles may be considered primarily as a means of transportation that controls every aspect of the journey. ...
... In the past, most people have considered driving their own car to be a source of pleasure (e.g. Hagman, 2010), associated with the feeling of being at home (Dubois & Moch, 2006), and not only as an effective means of transportation. In the future, vehicles may be considered primarily as a means of transportation that controls every aspect of the journey. ...
Due to technological improvements, the vehicle of the future is expected to be autonomous. However, vehicle automation is a matter not only of technology but also of the human behind the wheel. Highly automated vehicles have an impact on drivers’ cognitive processes and these should be considered carefully before introducing automation. It is argued here that automation should not be implemented based solely on what is technologically possible. Instead, human-machine cooperation should be considered and automation adapted accordingly. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
... In the majority of movies, cars are depicted as partners (Chapter 3). In summary, movies are key sites where the understanding of cars is created, and where perceptions of its affordances are shaped (Sheller, 2007;Hagman, 2010). ...
IF YOU WANT THIS BOOK, PLEASE BE IN TOUCH.
Worldwide there are now more than one billion cars, and their number grows continuously. Yet there is growing evidence that humanity needs to reach ‘peak cars’ as increased air pollution, noise, accidents, and climate change support a decline in car usage. While many governments agree, the car remains attractive, and endeavors to change transport systems have faced fierce resistance. Based on insights from a wide range of transport behaviors, The Psychology of the Car shows the “why of automotive cultures, providing new perspectives essential for understanding its attractiveness and for defining a more desirable transport future.
The Psychology of the Car illustrates the growth of global car use over time and its effect on urban transport systems and the global environment. It looks at the adoption of the car into lifestyles, the “mobilities turn, and how the car impacts collective and personal identities. The book examines car drivers themselves; their personalities, preferences, and personality disorders relevant to driving. The book looks at the role power, control, dominance, speed, and gender play, as well as the interrelationship between personal freedom and law enforcement. The book explores risk-taking behaviors as accidental death is a central element of car driving. The book addresses how interventions can be successful as well as which interventions are unlikely to work, and concludes with how a more sustainable transport future can be created based on emerging transport trends.
... As we indicated above, while the car is certainly a technical-mechanical construct, it is also a social and cultural phenomenon. The modern petrol-powered car took the world by storm, and in Europe and the US became a central symbol in popular culture, tapping into powerful cultural dreams of adventure and freedom (Featherstone 2004) to emerge as key 'toys' (Hagman 2010) through which these dreams are realised. Both film and literature have reflected and generated a passion for cars that extends well beyond their functional use value as means of transportation. ...
Cars, Automobility and Development in Asia explores the nexus between automobility and development in a pan-Asian comparative perspective. The book seeks to integrate the policies, production forms, consumption preferences and symbolism implicated in emerging Asian automobilities. Using empirically rich and grounded analyses of both comparative and single-country case studies, the authors chart new approaches to studying automobility and development in emerging Asia. © 2017 selection and editorial matter, Arve Hansen and Kenneth Bo Nielsen; individual chapters, the contributors.
... In the majority of movies, cars are depicted as partners (Chapter 3). In summary, movies are key sites where the understanding of cars is created, and where perceptions of its affordances are shaped (Sheller, 2007;Hagman, 2010). ...
Emotions underlie human behavior and have considerable relevance for automobility. This chapter discusses functions of emotions from (evolutionary) social psychology viewpoints and draws linkages to automobile culture. Considerable attention is paid to anxieties, which permeate the automotive system on a wide range of levels and have received limited attention in the literature so far. It is argued that anxieties have great relevance for car attachment, because they address fundamental needs, necessitating car travel—obesity, old age, and an insecure outside world all require automobility. As the automobile is an unsafe space in itself, anxieties related to risk exposure (accidents, car reliability) are regularly addressed in advertisements. This soothes, but also confirms fears, and results in growing car attachment. Emotions also have great relevance in other contexts, including anger, revenge, rebellion, and escape, which represent flight-fight-fright reactions. While this confirms that negative emotions can influence transport behavior, findings also suggest that these can arise out of neglect, abuse, and trauma. To understand and change (reckless) driver behavior requires consideration of the social conditions underlying and activating such behavior.
... Interviews with drivers concerning driving pleasure also disclosed an association between driving pleasure and need fulfilment (Hagman 2010). Similarly, Hassenzahl, Diefenbach, and Göritz (2010), who examined over 500 reports, found that need fulfilment, in terms of stimulation, relatedness, competence and popularity, correlated with the experience of positive emotions when using interactive products. ...
This driving simulator study extended knowledge on user experience using a strategy to mitigate distraction resulting from the use of in-vehicle information systems. It examined the impact of system restrictions on users’ needs, emotions, and consequences of users’ experience in terms of psychological reactance. In a repeated measures design, we asked 53 participants to perform secondary tasks with an in-vehicle information system while driving. Three versions of the system varied with respect to the number of operable functionalities. The more functionalities that were disabled while driving, the more negatively users rated the systems. Multilevel regression analyses of at least n = 155 data points revealed that drivers’ need fulfilment predicted their emotions. Reactance depended on users’ need fulfilment and emotions. Experienced autonomy mediated the relation between functional limitations and reactance. When developing interactive systems, one should focus on needs and be aware of potential unwanted consequences such as psychological reactance.
Practitioner Summary
This driving simulator study highlights the importance of considering need fulfilment and users’ emotions when developing an interactive system that provides high user experience. System restrictions could have negative consequences as users might show psychological reactance.
... It is often difficult to parse the value of driving itself from other activities connected to it such as the purpose of a journey, traveling companions, or degree of traffic congestion [41]. User-defined pleasure is thus also linked, in part, to extrinsic, external or contextual aspects such as road quality, travel expediency, or safety [42]. ...
I expand and integrate a theory of mobility (Automobility) with one of science and technology (Actor Network Theory) and one about social acceptance and user adoption (UTAUT). I apply this integrative framework to the diffusion (and non-diffusion) of electric vehicles and the process of electric mobility. I begin by presenting my methods, namely semi-structured qualitative research interviews with social theorists. Then, I present the three theories deemed most relevant by respondents. Automobility holds that, on a cultural or social level, automobiles exist as part of a complex, one that involves hardware and infrastructure—a hybridity between drivers and machines—along with patterns of identity and attitudes about driving pleasure. Actor Network Theory (ANT) involves the concepts of network assemblage, translation, enrollment, and actants and lieutenants. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, or UTAUT, states that on an individual level, the adoption of new technologies will be predicated on interconnected factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and other facilitating conditions. Based largely on the original interview data supplemented with peer-reviewed studies, I propose a conceptual framework of user acceptance consisting of motile pleasure, sociality, sociotechnical commensurability, and habitual momentum. I conclude with implications for research and policy.
... Dans le premier cas, la bienveillance peut mener les designers à identifier des moyens de diminuer les charges cognitives que ce type de dispositif fait peser sur l'usager (Shedroff, 2001, Shriver, 1997. Dans le second cas, la motivation de bienveillance invite les designers à cerner les moyens d'optimiser le plaisir de la conduite (Hagman, 2010). Ainsi, même si la portée est de nature différente, il y a dans un cas comme dans l'autre une attention pour l'usager qui caractérise les motivations internes des designers. ...
... Although we recognise that proponents of actorcentric approaches have addressed some of these criticisms by either expanding or remodelling their theoretical foundations, two major objections remain. 2 First, many of these models assume behaviour to result from conscious choice, despite Observational data Observational data ample evidence to the contrary (e.g. Dant, 2004;Hagman, 2010;Klo¨ckner and Matthies, 2004). Second, their applicability to real-world situations is often limited by their lack of focus on contextual factors. ...
This paper contributes to current debates on (un)sustainable mobility by re-conceptualising everyday travel as a set of consumption practices. Treating physical mobility as ‘consumption of distance’ with considerable social, ecological and economic consequences, the paper’s theoretical focus moves beyond conventional approaches that have hitherto dominated transport research and policy in Europe and beyond. In addition, it demonstrates how a carefully operationalized practice-theoretical approach can shed new light on the social and material contingency of human (travel) behaviour. By transforming qualitative evidence from Ireland into an innovative typology of commuting practices, the paper captures the importance of intermeshing social and material contexts for people’s everyday consumption of distance. Overall, we seek to add to the already significant body of literature that evaluates the suitability of practice-theoretical core concepts to the empirical study of everyday life.
... Many studies have been carried out with respect to the travel behaviour of various segments of the population (Johansson et al. 2006;Rajé 2007;Lois, López-Sáez 2009;Van Exel, Rietveld 2009), regarding various purposes of movement, such as shopping for food, transportation of children to and from school, as part of exercising leisure time (Anable 2005), and for work (Shuttleworth, Gould 2010;Silver 2011). Some scientific papers deal with the use of various modes of transportation (Fiorenzo-Catalano et al. 2003;Manaugh 2009;Bonham, Koth 2010;Gatersleben, Haddad 2010;Hagman 2010;Handy et al. 2010) and the role of many factors (e.g. socio-demographic) that influence the choice and frequency of travelling (Boarnet, Sarmiento 1998;Best, Lanzendorf 2005;Bergstad et al. 2011). ...
The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to better knowledge of consumer logistics and consumer preferences. This aspect of logistics is to our mind rather unexplored, but seems to be very important for the development of logistics companies. The paper is confined to the logistics executed by the younger population. The main goal of the research was to identify the factors influencing students’ readiness for outsourcing their logistics. Further, the survey aims at developing an instrument for measuring the scope and structure of the students’ logistics and the share of their mobility which they would be ready to have executed by the suppliers of logistic services. Two segments were statistically analysed: social-demographic data and the diary of travel behaviour. Among twenty-two independent variables, the results highlighted ‘length of journey’, ‘time necessary for the execution of logistics’ for the purpose of: ‘giving a ride to neighbours’, ‘shopping for consumer goods’, ‘change of residence’ and ‘entertainment’. Interestingly, it was ascertained that the more time the students travel by car, the more logistics they were prepared to outsource. Finally, the survey methodology applied might serve as the basis for further research into the market of logistic services as well as other aspects of consumers’ preferences referring to their logistics. Based on this, new means of public transportation might be designed and offered by various localities.
First published online: 15 Jun 2015
... In essence, for Urry (2006) inhabiting the car represents a deficiency, something lacking. This research has also foregrounded the importance of understanding driving as an embodied or even a sensuous and emotional activity (Thrift 2004;Hagman 2010). It constructs an image of an integrated driver-car hybrid -"a driving body" -in which the driver connects with the technologies in and of the car, and which enables or constrains experience and social behavior in ways that would not be possible by the individual elements alone (see e.g., Dant 2004;Sheller 2004;Urry 2006;Thrift 2007;Redshaw 2008). ...
... Cars provide status to their owners through their various signvalues that include speed, home, safety, sexual success, career achievement, freedom, family, masculinity and even genetic breeding. (Urry, 2008, p. 116) Car advertising is a constantly regenerated source of such images, reinforcing concepts like "driving pleasure" (Hagman, 2010).The ubiquitous promotion of this "car culture" (Owens and Cowell, 2011, p. 103) dwarfs anything that government information campaigns, like those in the Sustainable Travel Towns programme, could hope to achieve. It is not just cars that are promoted, but also behaviours that require cars, or other high carbon transportation (Urry, 2010): television shows encouraging 'Escape to the Country' (and the extended commute and distances to services that follow), or newspapers' exotic holiday supplements. ...
Thirty years ago, Adams (1981) depicted a future UK where everyone was a millionaire lorry driver, simply by extrapolating from contemporary official transport growth assumptions. These assumptions underpinned the ‘predict and provide’ approach which then characterised transport planning. Twenty years later, the New Deal for Transport White Paper (1998) abandoned ‘predict and provide’ as unsustainable. This paper argues that the same growth assumptions that Adams took to their logical (absurd) conclusion have re-emerged to define both transport and the drivers of transport demand. While non-aviation transport is supposed to be carbon-neutral by 2050, the implied reductions in emissions rely on an absolute decoupling of transport demand and its drivers for which there is no evidence in current planning. Targets rely on optimistic, narrowly framed technology forecasts and behaviour change assumptions which appear highly unlikely in the present socio-political climate. Moreover, such is the cost of mitigating these tensions between economic growth and other concerns, it is argued that the targeted outcomes of current policy are as undesirable as they are unlikely. The paper concludes by calling for a transport policy which considers mobility in an integrated, holistic fashion, rather than merely as a dimension of economic growth.
... Furthermore, mobilities are a way of making sense of our engagement with others, with "how we address the world" (Adey, 2010, 19). They are experienced through diverse affective registers, of waiting (Bissell, 2007) and the sensed vibrations of movement (Bissell, 2010), of being stranded and immobile (Birtchnell and Büscher, 2011) and feeling uncertain (Barton, 2011), and of pleasure (Hagman, 2010). ...
The production and consumption of geographic information is becoming a more mobile practice, with more corporate actors challenging the traditional stronghold of Esri- and government-based geospatial developments. What can be considered a geographic information system has expanded to include web-based technologies like Google Earth/Maps, as well as more recent developments of Microsoft’s Bing Maps and the mobile version of ArcGIS available for the iPhone. In addition to these developments, a discursive shift toward ‘location’ is occurring across the Internet industry. Location has become the new buzzword for social-spatial strategies to target consumers. As reported in 2010, venture capitalists have, since 2009, invested $115 million into ‘location start-ups’ -- software companies that provide location-based services to mobile computing consumers (Miller and Wortham, 2010). Applications like Foursquare, Loopt, Gowalla, and most recently, Facebook Places allow users to ‘check-in’ at restaurants, bars, gyms, retail outlets, and offices, thereby sharing their location within their social network. These developments enable consumers to (re)discover their proximities to products, while feeding a desire for making known one’s everyday movements. Here, I discuss the development of location-based services as the proliferation of a peculiar form of geographic information: conspicuous mobility. Through discussion of a recent gathering of location-aware software professionals and through analysis of discourses that emerge over a battle between ‘check in’ companies, I sketch an area of study that explores the implications of these emerging geographic information ‘systems’, and new everyday cartographers.
Sprache prägt unser Denken und Handeln.Mobilität erscheint uns als immaterielles (Konsum-)Gut, das grenzenlos verfügbar ist und mit dem wir verschwenderisch umgehen können. Und wir erwarten, dass der Verkehr fließt, sonst haben wir ein Problem. Beide Sprechweisen machen für den Ressourcenverbrauch, der mit Mobilität und Verkehr einhergeht, blind. Für einen suffizienten Umgang mit natürlichen Ressourcen brauchen wir einen Mobilitätsbegriff, der etwa das Bleiben am Ort positiv beleuchtet, und einen Verkehrsbegriff, der Verkehr nicht länger als Naturphänomen versteht, sondern als menschengemacht.This article provides evidence from the perspective of discourse linguistics that the key concepts of mobility and traffic promote non-sufficient thinking and action. The extensive use of these terms in journalism and politics triggers an understanding of mobility as an immaterial consumer good available in unlimited quantities and of traffic as a force of nature. Both metaphorical frames blind us to the use of resources engendered by mobility and traffic. The article suggests using these terms in a more conscious manner and provides alternative metaphors.
In this study, we focused on domain-specific emotions and investigated the characteristics of the emotions evoked in the individual voluntary manufacture and the characteristics of the manufacture itself. In study 1, we specified the individual manufactures on which we conducted this study. In study 2, we conducted interviews based on the Evaluation Grid Method and extracted 10 positive emotions and 12 negative emotions that were evoked during individual manufacture. In study 3, we investigated the characteristics of the emotions along a valence axis and an arousal axis based on the core affect mode. These emotions had strong positive correlations between their valence and arousal. This correlation indicates the feedback functions of the emotions: the acceleratory function of positive emotions and the inhibitory function of the negative emotions. In addition, we divided these emotions into four clusters and found different patterns of evocation in the categories of manufacture and timing of the manufacture between clusters, which suggests the presence of qualitative differences.
This chapter provides a brief history of the car radio, an artefact that is more often than not the playing the soundtrack of our lives as we drive.
With a foreword by Dr Ursula Frederick, this book presents the results of research into a range of objects associated with road trips, from parts to the car itself, to parts of the roadscape, and to the objects we might take with us. The common theme that unites them all is that they are all immediately identifiable as being associated with long car journeys.
In this article, I offer a sociological user perspective on increased self-driving automation, which has evolved from a long history associated with automobility. This study explores complex, perceived a priori driving pleasures in different scenarios involving self-driving cars. The methods used consisted of 32 in-depth interviews with participants who were given eight video examples (two video examples within four different scenarios) to watch. A numerical rating scales formed parts of the interviews. The findings revealed that driving pleasure when using increasingly automated driving technologies is very complex and must be seen within various contexts, including, for example, different speeds, road conditions, purposes, driving distances, and numbers of people in the car. Self-driving cars are not just about technology, increased safety, and better traffic flow, but are also dependent on automotive emotions and complex perceived issues, which are full of meaning that go beyond the car itself. The highest driving pleasure in self-driving technologies was found for parking and traffic jam situations in the city. However, trust and the sense of freedom and control were major concerns in all aspects of emerging self-driving mobilities.
This article adds new knowledge on the ways that car modifiers negotiate their cars in relation to design, power and performance as qualities that make cars attractive. In order to understand the complex ways in which masculinity and cars co-constitute masculine subjectivities and communities, the article uses the modifier-car as a tool to discuss how certain ways of modifying and personifying cars create links between masculinity and cars at risk in male-dominated communities. Despite the fact that modified cars may share the looks and sounds of typical racing cars – and therefore appear to encompass some of the most convincing elements of power in automobile systems, namely the capacity for risk-taking – it is rather an alleged lack of power ascribed to some versions of modified cars – the plastic rocket – that stand out as a risk to constructions of modifier masculinity. Viewed as a feminized car, the plastic rocket has come to be negotiated as an inauthentic, foreign, powerless and vulgar example of modifying cars compared to the Swedish modified car community’s working-class self-image. At the very core of the plastic rocket is a threat to modifier masculinity which is the inability to back up one’s looks with strength. It is argued that the discourses formed around the plastic rocket indicate ‘queer’ possibilities in the ways cars extend male bodies. © 2014 The Nordic Association for Research on Men and Masculinities.
This paper critically examines the methods of transportation used by independent tourists and how importantly they value mobility throughout their journeys. While independent tourists are frequently identified as being adventurous and highly mobile, relatively few researchers have critically examined the modes of transport they use or the importance they play in enhancing and fulfilling their desired experiences. Indeed, most literature portrays independent tourists as habitual users of public transport as opposed to modes of personal transport. In this paper, the notion of automobility – a combination of autonomous and self-directed movement – is explored from the perspective of independent tourists in Norway. A multi-method qualitative study was undertaken which analysed the views of 38 independent tourists at eight different locations. The findings revealed that personal modes of transport were intrinsic features of the journeys undertaken and that they offered alternative sensory experiences in contrast to public transport. Moreover, for many independent tourists, autonomous journeys were considerably more important than the destinations they visited. Thus, for many independent tourists in Norway, demands for control, flexibility and adventure could only be satisfied by using particular modes of transport.
Recent research has attempted to distinguish the key differences between backpacking and flashpacking. However, research observing how both groups choose to travel between destinations remains a neglected theme, and one that may also reveal distinct behavioural differences. This paper critically examines the methods of transportation used by backpackers and flashpackers and analyses how both groups value mobility throughout their respective journeys. While both groups have frequently been identified as being highly mobile, few papers have critically examined the significance transportation choices play in enhancing or fulfilling their desired experiences. Despite suggestions that flashpackers possess far greater financial budgets, most studies have assumed that they travel in similar ways to backpackers. In this paper, the importance of automobility, which is deemed to be a combination of autonomous and self-directed movement, is explored in the context of Norway. Using a qualitative methodology, the experiences of 43 interviewees (26 backpackers and 17 flashpackers) at 10 different hostel locations were recorded in 2009. The findings revealed that backpackers and flashpackers exhibited highly contrasting mobilities, and that previous assumptions regarding how they choose to travel should be challenged.
Objective measurement of a car driver's feeling has been a subject of
automobile researches. In the present study, we aimed at quantifying the
matching between the physiological response of a driver and the vehicle
motion. Assuming that the performance of a head stabilization mechanism,
the vestibulo-collic reflex, affects driving feeling, we recorded the
activity of neck muscles that help maintain the head position.
Electromyograms (EMGs) were recorded from the sternocleidomastoid
muscles (SCM) using active electrodes and a compact amplifier. Vehicle
acceleration and gas pedal movement were recorded with small
accelerometers. Subjects were required to perform straight-line
acceleration. Four road cars with different characteristics were used.
EMG signals were filtered, full-wave rectified and averaged across
trials. Main results are summarized as follows. First, the EMG response
of a driver's neck muscle depended not only on vehicle acceleration but
on its time derivative, jerk. A quantitative analysis showed that, for
the data obtained with the four cars, the EMG profile can be reproduced
by a linear sum of acceleration and jerk. The correlation coefficient,
an index of goodness of matching, ranged from ~0.8 to ~0.95. Second, our
analysis indicated that the relationship between the muscle response and
the vehicle motion can be characterized by two parameters: the optimal
weight for the jerk term and the optimal time lag. The current study
proposes a method for characterizing a physiological response of a
driver to dynamic vehicle motion. It remains to be investigated whether
these parameters are related to the driving feeling.
This paper examines key developments in recent tourism mobilities research. It begins by outlining the recent conceptualisation of tourism mobilities, arguing that it is not just that tourism is a form of mobility like other forms of mobility but that different mobilities inform and are informed by tourism. It then examines work which has been developed in terms of materialities, autmobilities and new technologies. It concludes by discussing mobile methodologies and some thoughts on future research directions.
Historically, youths have presented challenges to the authorities via their appropriation of the automobile and related inversion of mainstream motoring values. Recently, this has been demonstrated in the contestation concerning boy racers in the UK and their engagement in deviant driving and car modification. Drawing on Elias’ civilizing process and work on technization, this paper demonstrates how various measures targeted the emotive heart of this car-based community, thus attempting to (re)civilize young drivers. Data is presented from ethnographic research with boy racers and societal groups in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland.
The car has become ubiquitous in late modern society and has become the leading object in the ordinary social relations of mobility. Despite its centrality to the culture and material form of modern societies, the relationship between the car and human beings has remained largely unexplored by sociology. This article argues that cars are combined with their drivers into an assemblage, the ‘driver-car’, which has become a form of social being that brings about distinctive social actions in modern society – driving, transporting, parking, consuming, polluting, killing, communicating and so on. To understand the nature of this assemblage a number of theoretical perspectives that describe the interaction and collaboration between human beings and complex objects are explored; the process of driving, ‘affordance’, actor-network theory, and the embodied relationship between driver and car. This theoretical account of the driver-car is intended as a preliminary to the empirical investigation of the place of the driver-car in modern societies.
Car cultures have social, material and, above all, affective dimensions that are overlooked in current strategies to influence car-driving decisions. Car consumption is never simply about rational economic choices, but is as much about aesthetic, emotional and sensory responses to driving, as well as patterns of kinship, sociability, habitation and work. Through a close examination of the aesthetic and especially kinaesthetic dimensions of automobility, this article locates car cultures (and their associated feelings) within a broader physical/material relational setting that includes both human bodies and car bodies, and the relations between them and the spaces through which they move (or fail to move). Drawing on both the phenomenology of car use and new approaches in the sociology of emotions, it is argued that everyday car cultures are implicated in a deep context of affective and embodied relations between people, machines and spaces of mobility and dwelling in which emotions and the senses play a key part – the emotional geographies of car use. Feelings for, of and within cars (‘automotive emotions’) come to be socially and culturally generated across three scales involved in the circulations and displacements performed by cars, roads and drivers: embodied sensibilities and kinaesthetic performances; familial and sociable practices of ‘caring’ through car use; and regional and national car cultures that form around particular systems of automobility. By showing how people feel about and in cars, and how the feel of different car cultures generates habitual forms of automobilized life and different dispositions towards driving, it is argued that we will be in a better position to re-evaluate the ethical dimensions of car consumption and the moral economies of car use.
This wide-ranging introduction to the special issue on Automobilities examines various dimensions of the automobile system and car cultures. In its broadest sense we can think of many automobilities - modes of autonomous, self-directed movement. It can be argued that there are many different car cultures and autoscapes which operate around the world, which cannot be seen as making driving (including freeways, motorways and autobahns) a uniform experience of movement in a controlled 'no-place' space. Yet, there clearly is an increasingly globalizing car system, conceptualized as a powerful socio-economic and technological complex which sustains the car as a key object of mass production (Fordism) and mass consumption, which has impacted on spatial organization through roads, city layout, suburban housing and shopping malls and demands new forms of social life, sociability and time-space flexibility. This automobile system currently accounts for some 1.2 million deaths through traffic accidents a year world-wide, with the reversal of the long normalization of this form of 'mass murder,' now seen as a key topic for public health authorities. At the same time while it is potentially possible to subject cars to greater surveillance and systemic control through information technology, this in itself may not automatically lead to a reduction of accidents. In recent years the car has become a complex communicative platform for multi-tasking, a command centre for telephone, television, Internet etc., a place of work and instrumental tasking; but also a place of dwelling and refuge, a comfort zone for emotional decontrol via the sound system. Something which requires a more flexible driving habitus in which the senses are reconfigured and extended through the technology, as driving increasingly depends on the software as we move to intelligent cars and roads. Yet this is also something which generates an expanding set of new risks. The logic is for the driver to become the auto pilot and the automobile to become a sort of datasuit wrap. Yet it is not surprising that this view of the controlled safe car should also summon up its opposite: the car as dangerous and powerful, as a vehicle for excitement and speed. Especially so given that car racing practically originated alongside the birth of the automobile and is now itself a massive global industry whose imagery is central to the marketing of many types of cars.
This article argues that de Certeau’s understanding of walking as the archetypal transhuman practice of making the city habitable cannot hold in a post-human world. By concentrating on the practices of driving, I argue that other experiences of the city can have an equal validity. In other words, de Certeau’s work on everyday life in the city needs to be reworked in order to take into account the rise of automobility. The bulk of this article is devoted to exploring how that goal might be achieved, concentrating in particular on how new knowledge like software and ergonomics has become responsible for a large-scale spatial reordering of the city which presages an important change in what counts as making the city habitable.
Technology development may play a role in fuel reductions in transport, especially regarding automobiles. But these developments may be off-set by diverting technology gains into non-fuel saving vehicle features – “service attributes”. This paper estimates to what extent technological development, in the Swedish new car fleet, has resulted in lower fuel consumption or has improved service attributes. Changes between 1975 and 2002 are mapped through statistical analysis and modeling of a combination of sales statistics and vehicle attributes. About 35% of the effects of enhanced technology and design resulted in a net reduction in fuel consumption. The remaining 65% served to meet consumer demands for such things as increased passenger space and improved acceleration.
Preface - The Birth of the Mass Age - The Changing Face of Capitalism - The Consumer Society - The Social Role of Advertising - The Advertisers' Perspective - The Liberal Deocratic Ideal - Democracy and the Market - Conclusions - Notes and References - Bibliography - Index
When car users’ are questioned about the advantages and disadvantages of car use the focus should not be on what they say, but on how they present their arguments to the interviewer. This paper shows such arguments can differ in kind. Swedish car users present the advantages––such as ‘time-saving’––by referring to personal and direct experience. The disadvantages are of two kinds. Some are related to direct experience, such as ‘costs’. Some are made credible by reference to public discourse, notably ‘environmental degradation’. This indicates that the facts about the advantages and environmental impacts are constructed in different ways. Facts about the advantages and some of the disadvantages are constructed in a direct and unreflexive way, situated in practical actions, and leave little room for negotiation. Facts about environmental impacts are constructed by others in a distanced and reflexive process, situated in laboratories, etc. Car users adopt these facts through various media. While the arguments on the advantages of car use are presented as unquestionable and absolute, scientific facts about the negative effects of car use are presented as relative and negotiable. This should be seen as a possible explanation why people do not reduce their own car use, although they say that car use in general ought to be limited.
This paper investigates a logit-based combined departure time and dynamic stochastic user equilibrium assignment (DDSUE) problem and shows the existence of DDSUE condition as well as exploring its properties: a novel invariant quantity of DDSUE assignments is established. The relations between daily volume of traffic and cost incurred from travelling are also investigated. In order to calculate the equilibrium, we propose a solution algorithm that can solve the problem directly, and without appealing to an equivalent mathematical programme. Since the model is based on paths where all feasible paths are enumerated in advance, we propose an efficient method that works within a reasonable path set. Through two numerical examples, we show the DDSUE and some valuable results from the model such as relation between departure flow (or path inflow) and departure cost (or path cost). Sensitivity analysis of travel volumes with respect to travel costs and model parameters is also undertaken.
This paper analyzes empirically measured values of Travel Liking––how much individuals like to travel, in various overall, mode-, and purpose-based categories. The study addresses two questions: what types of people enjoy travel, and under what circumstances is travel enjoyed? We first review and augment some previously hypothesized reasons why individuals may enjoy travel. Then, using data from 1358 commuting residents of three San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods, a total of 13 ordinary least-squares linear regression models are presented: eight models of short-distance Travel Liking and five models of long-distance Travel Liking. The results indicate that travelers’ attitudes and personality (representing motivations) are more important determinants of Travel Liking than objective travel amounts. For example, while those who commute long distances do tend to dislike commute travel (as expected), the variables entering the models that hold the most importance relate to the personality and attitudes of the traveler. Most of the hypothesized reasons for liking travel are empirically supported here.
Second Edition published in 1990; Third Edition published in 2006
Peter Merriman traces the social and cultural histories and geographies of driving spaces through an examination of the design, construction and use of England's M1 motorway in the 1950s and 1960s. A first-of-its-kind academic study examining the production and consumption of the landscapes and spaces of a British motorway An interdisciplinary approach, engaging with theoretical and empirical work from sociology, history, cultural studies, anthropology and geography Contains 38 high quality illustrations Based on extensive, original archive work.
From just about all accounts, Americans are driving more than ever, not just to work but to shopping, to school, to soccer practice and band practice, to visit family and friends, and so on. Americans also seem to be complaining more than ever about how much they drive--or, more accurately, how much everyone else drives. However, the available evidence suggests that a notable share of their driving is by choice rather than necessity. Although the distinction between choice and necessity is not always so clear, it is important for policy makers. For necessary trips, planners can explore ways of reducing the need for or length of the trip or ways of enhancing alternatives to driving. For travel by choice, the policy implications are much trickier and touch on basic concepts of freedom of choice. This paper first develops a framework for exploring the boundary between choice and necessity based on a categorization of potential reasons for and sources of "excess driving", and then uses in-depth one-on-one interviews guided by this framework to characterize patterns of excess driving. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of travel behavior and provides a basis for developing policy proposals directed at reducing the growth in driving.
This paper reports results of two questionnaire studies aimed at examining various motives for car use. In the first study, a random selection of 185 respondents who possess a driving licence were interviewed. Respondents were recruited from the cities of Groningen and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The sample of the second study comprised a random selection of 113 commuters who regularly travelled during rush hours in and around Rotterdam, a region in the west of the Netherlands. First, it was examined which categories of car use motives may be distinguished. As proposed by Dittmar's (1992) [The social psychology of material possessions: to have is to be. Havester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, UK; St. Martin's Press, New York] model on the meaning of material possessions, results from both studies revealed that car use not only fulfils instrumental functions, but also important symbolic and affective functions. Second, it was studied to what extent these different motives are related to the level of car use. From the results of study 2, it appeared that commuter car use was most strongly related to symbolic and affective motives, and not to instrumental motives. Third, individual differences in the relative importance of the three categories of motives were investigated. In both studies, most group differences were found in the evaluation of the symbolic and affective motives (and not the instrumental ones). Especially frequent drivers, respondents with a positive car attitude, male and younger respondents valued these non-instrumental motives for car use. These results suggest that policy makers should not exclusively focus on instrumental motives for car use, but they should consider the many social and affective motives as well.
Gendered Mobility. A Study of Women's and Men's Relations to Automobility in Sweden
- M Polk
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Driving Passion. The Psychology of the Car
- P Marsch
- P Collett
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Rutiner og brud i hverdagens transport. Et tekniksociologisk studie af børnefamil-jers transport
- M Godskesen
Godskesen, M. (2002) Rutiner og brud i hverdagens transport. Et tekniksociologisk studie af børnefamil-jers transport (Copenhagen: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Institut for Produktion og Ledelse).
The Motor Car and Politics
- W Plowden
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Rethinking Mobility and Contemporary Sociology (Aldershot: Ashgate)
- V Kaufman
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Sex, Drink, and Fast Cars. The Creation and Consumption of Images
- O Hagman
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Zur socio-ökonomischen Bedeutung des Auto-mobils (Frankfurt am Main
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Aramis, or the Love of
- B Latour
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Bilisten och miljön. Bilanvändare i stad och land om bilismens goda och dåliga sidor
- O Hagman
Hagman, O. (2002) Bilisten och miljön. Bilanvändare i stad och land om bilismens goda och dåliga sidor. STS Research Report 4 (Göteborg: Göteborg University, Section for Science and Technology Studies).
Bilismens pornografi: En fallstudie i Teknikens Värld
- B Häggqvist
Häggqvist, B. (1970) Bilismens pornografi: En fallstudie i Teknikens Värld, Ord & Bild 1/70, pp. 10–15.
Risky Mobility. The Filtering of Automobility's Unintended Consequences
- J Beckmann
Beckmann, J. (2001) Risky Mobility. The Filtering of Automobility's Unintended Consequences. (Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, Department of Sociology).