An Analysis of Impact Factors to the Propensity of Car Sharing in the "Post-Epidemic Era"Based on an Extended UTAUT Model

In the post-epidemic period, car sharing offers a new choice of transportation mode because of its "low-carbon"attributes and independent space for travelers. A survey of travelers is created in the form of a web-based questionnaire. A total of 109 valid questionnaires were collected and the results are analyzed to investi-gate factors impacting people's propensity to use car sharing in the post-epidemic period. An expanded UTAUT model is developed by considering the perceived risk of epidemic and financial risk. To investigate how each latent variable influences the intention to accept car sharing, eleven hypotheses are proposed, and structural equation mod-eling is applied. Analysis of the hypothesis test findings, model degree of fit, and mediating effects are done. Mediat-ing effects are looked at for routes that are insignificant in the hypothesis. A multiple factor and multiple reasoning model based on structural equations is developed to examine the effect process of socio-economic variables. Correla-tions between observed and latent variables are examined, in addition to correlations between latent variables and la-tent variables. Findings from this study show that that all of the models have a good fit. Performance expectation had the greatest, positive influence on acceptance intention among the latent variables, followed by facilitation con-ditions and social influence. Financial risk and effort expectation have the greatest negative influence on acceptance intention. Social influence, performance expectation, and facilitation conditions partially mediated the effect be-tween perceived risk of epidemic and behavioral intention. This effect had a total indirect effect of 0.240 and a sig-nificant indirect effect of 74.8% of the total effect. However, the direct effect of perceived epidemic risk is not signif-icant. Age, actual driving age, and the possession of a driver's license all significantly influence the attitudes regard-ing the use of car sharing during the pandemic. In contrast, frequency of usage directly affectes intention to use car sharing during the epidemic. Strategies and instructions for promoting car sharing in the post-epidemic era are then offered, which include ways to improve the travel experience, strengthen safety management, encourage consump-tion, and boost brand value.