Exploring the Use of Egocentric Online Social Network Data to Characterize Individual Air Travel Behavior

The rapid growth of online social networking over the past decade has generated substantial amounts of data about individuals and their social relationships. Recent research studies investigating social relationships and travel behavior have sought connections between individuals’ social networks an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Transportation research record 2014, Vol.2400 (1), p.78-86
Main Authors: Wall, Thomas A., Macfarlane, Gregory S., Watkins, Kari Edison
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Hypotheses
Joints
Networks
Online
Social networks
Transportation
Trip generation
World Wide Web
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Summary:The rapid growth of online social networking over the past decade has generated substantial amounts of data about individuals and their social relationships. Recent research studies investigating social relationships and travel behavior have sought connections between individuals’ social networks and socially related travel; however, to the authors’ knowledge, no study has pursued the use of online social networking data to do so. This study explores the use of online social network data in characterizing individuals’ air travel behavior. Data were collected through a web-based survey including information about individuals’ air travel history and online social network information, specifically participants’ Facebook networks. The data were then analyzed to address a series of hypotheses about the association between online social network characteristics (specifically Facebook) and air travel behavior, in particular, travel distance, leisure-related travel, and trip generation. This study found a positive relationship between the size and distribution of individuals’ Facebook social networks and both their engagement in air travel and the odds that their air travel will be leisure related or will include a leisure component.
ISSN:0361-1981
2169-4052
DOI:10.3141/2400-09