Revving Up Fuel Efficiency: Unveiling the Eco-Driving Impact of App Usage

Abstract

The exponential growth in transportation demand, coupled with digital transformation and the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions, has prompted the automobile industry and society to explore how digitalization can enable and implement eco-driving as a sustainable solution for automobile transportation. However, prior research has given limited attention to the psychological impact of IT intervention on variations in driving behavior and the corresponding patterns of driving speed. To further address this gap, this study conducts a field experiment by installing a mobile-based smart driving application and collecting real-time driving data from 11,187 trips made by 400 drivers in China. The study investigates how IT interventions influence automobile users' driving behavior, with a particular focus on speed variations. The statistical results first verify that fuel efficiency increases with driving speed up to an average of 67 km/hour but declines beyond this point, with sudden speed change further reducing the fuel efficiency. Additionally, the IT interventions help mitigate the negative effects of driving speed, as well as sudden speed change, on fuel efficiency. This study extends the existing literature by illuminating the underlying mechanisms in the intersection of IT interventions and eco-driving behavior, while addressing real-world challenges for sustainable transportation.

Keywords: IT intervention, eco-driving behavior, fuel efficiency, cognitive dissonance theory, driving app usage