Uber versus taxi. Generation Y´s perception of taxi and Uber services in Lisbon

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Economics - Case Scenarios, grade: 17,0 (=1,3 in Deutschland), Catَlica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, language: English, abstract: This report investigates the effects and influence of Ubers market entry in the greater Lisbon area. More specifically, the study evaluates the resulting impact on "Generation Y"s perception of traditional taxi services. Based on the findings of the research, the report suggests concrete managerial implications to the traditional taxi industry. The overall research was designed to derive insights based on both, qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative research was performed with two focus groups and created the foundation for the quantitative research, which was executed using an extensive online questionnaire with 94 participants. Both approaches targeted respondents classified as "Generation Y". Core findings include the most significant attributes to evaluate traditional taxi services. Most importantly, the price, the friendliness of the driver and security were highlighted. Moreover, the overall satisfaction of customers is further determined by attributes such as availability, comfort and payment process. It must be considered however, that taxi services are rated significantly different among Uber users and non Uber users. As the former have ranked taxi services significantly worse than non Uber users, it can be concluded that the recent market entry of Uber influences and changes "Generation Y"s perception of traditional taxis. The complementing finding that Uber services have been evaluated significantly more positive among the all respondents impressively emphasizes the thread for traditional taxis in the greater Lisbon area. The emerging competitor Uber is perceived as superior, even among the non Uber users. Both, the qualitative and quantitative analysis revealed that the traditional taxi industry currently faces major problems related to the l