| Summary: | This study set out to investigate the value consumers
place on less tangible product attributes. Although some
work has been done in the p ast, to establish the relative
importance of intangible attributes; very few studies have
attempted to produce a financial value for a change. The
research was conducted in a rural railway environment and
so the product considered was a train journey. The main
intangible attribute chosen for the study was ride
quality.
Rural railway services make significant losses and as a
result have been threatened with closure. Reducing track
maintenance (and thus ride quality ) on these routes offers
considerable scope for cost reduction. But, very little
was known about the response of demand to changes in ride
quality. Any results obtained could, therefore, make a
contribution to maintaining railway services in areas of
limited public transport.
Although this study concentrated on the railway ride
problem, it is believed that the method developed during
this research would be applicable, with some modification,
to other topics.
|
|---|
