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Handbook of Sustainable Travel pp 113–129Cite as

Social Marketing in Travel Demand Management

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Abstract

Social marketing is an increasingly popular means of Travel Demand Management (TDM) for promoting non-car modes of travel that has proven to be effective, in particular if combined with structural improvements. Successful social marketing is based on a thorough understanding of targeted people’s needs, wants, and perceived barriers. It uses a combination of means to create an attractive offering tailored to these needs, wants, and perceived barriers. It applies established marketing techniques for catching attention to the offerings. However, there are limits to what social marketing can accomplish. In particular, social marketing is limited to cases where only perceived and not real barriers prevent people from using alternative travel modes. A review is given of research on and practical experiences of social marketing in TDM as a basis for evaluating its usefulness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The presentation of the South Perth case is based on Brög et al. (2009), Brög, Erl and Mense (2005), James (2002), and the web site of Department of Transport, Western Australia, retrieved from http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/activetransport/24605.asp

  2. 2.

    This summary of the Nottingham Cycle-Friendly Employers’ (NCFE) project is based on Cleary and McClintock (2000) and Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (2001).

  3. 3.

    Another, more recent Cycle Challenge case from Southampton, UK, is reported at www.toolsofchange.com/en/case-studies/detail/654

  4. 4.

    Retrieved from http://www.sydtrafik.dk/Default.aspx?ID=33&M=News&PID=613&NewsID=2405

  5. 5.

    Retrieved from http://www.catabus.com/ServiceSchedules/CATABUS/Fares/AptPass/index.html

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Acknowledgements

The chapter is an update of Thøgersen (2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Social Sciences, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10 – bld. 1327, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

    John Thøgersen

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  1. John Thøgersen
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Correspondence to John Thøgersen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden

    Tommy Gärling

  2. Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Dick Ettema

  3. SAMOT/CTF, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Margareta Friman

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Thøgersen, J. (2014). Social Marketing in Travel Demand Management. In: Gärling, T., Ettema, D., Friman, M. (eds) Handbook of Sustainable Travel. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7034-8_8

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