Resumo

The purpose of this article was to identify and to measure what are the most relevant variables that can impact the level of (dis)satisfaction on users of the service transportation of Taxi and Uber in the city of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil. The three most relevant variables in the discriminant function related to the dissatisfaction on Taxi's users in this sample were: travel prices, service request facility and comfort. In the other hand, the three most relevant variables related to the satisfaction on Uber's service were: service request facility, forms of payment and comfort.

What causes satisfaction or dissatisfaction on users of the service transportation of Taxi and Uber in the City of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)? The purpose of this article was to identify and to measure what are the most relevant variables that can impact the level of (dis)satisfaction on users of the service transportation of Taxi and Uber in the city of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.

Among the various modes of transportation available in Brazil, the segment of individual passenger transport has recently undergone drastic changes due to the entry of new competitors (Schor, 2016; Rayle, Chan, Cevero & Shaheen, 2016; Rasheed, Mazhar & Shahid, 2018; Mahapatra & Telukoti, 2018). The individual passenger transport sector, which was formerly monopolized by Taxis and undergoing intense regulation, has been going through a series of transformations in the last few years, and it has experienced a new market reality, with intense competition, pressure for quality.

To perform the data analysis of this research, it was opted to use the Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA), which according to Altman (1968), MDA is a statistical technique mainly used to classify, categorize or predict problems in which the dependent variable appears qualitatively, in other words, considered as a categorical or discrete variable (e.g: male or female, solvent or insolvent, good or bad, etc.). Therefore, the first step in using this technique is to establish explicit group classifications, which may be two or more.

The three most relevant variables in the discriminant function related to the dissatisfaction on Taxi's users in this sample were (i) travel prices, (ii) service request facility and (iii) comfort. In the other hand, the three most relevant variables in the discriminant function related to the satisfaction on Uber's service were (i) service request facility, (ii) forms of payment and (iii) comfort.

Although exist regulatory differences between these transport services, and that some users have preferences to a service, the research has shown that customers are neither necessarily against Taxi nor Uber. Thereby, the survey revealed that customers are quite sensitive to some important items such as: prices, forms of payment, comfort, safety, driver cordiality; and these often end up being the determining factors in the choices of consumers. Therefore, it is believed that competition is necessary to improve the services provided, to provide users with choice and to force the prices down.

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