Taste heterogeneity and market segmentation in freight shippers' mode choice behaviour

This paper investigates the prevalence of observed and unobserved taste heterogeneity influencing shippers' mode choice behaviour. The study is based on stated preference data collected in Java, Indonesia. The data were analysed using a mixed logit model, capable of accommodating random taste heterogeneity and panel effects associated with stated preference replications. The results indicate the presence of significant levels of taste heterogeneity, only some of which can be accounted for by conventional commodity-type based segmentations. The analysis goes on to apply latent class methods to identify behaviourally homogeneous segments, which also turn out to not depend on commodity types.