A major part of testing the competition between rival products (including services) is an assessment of the products themselves, and the benefits they provide to the consumer. The 'product' is one of the core features of classical marketing, along with price, promotion, position and distribution. With transport, the product is primarily a service (although often, but not always, involving a large physical object (Kotler 1988)). To compare different modes, or different operations within one modal type, one needs to be able to evaluate how well the service that each mode supplies meets the needs of the consumer on each occasion that they use it (Kotler 1986). The research described here attempts to assess the competition empirically by measuring what service different journeys require and what service different modes of transport provide, using principally the marketing technique SERVQUAL (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1994). The results lead to the development of a series of 'graphic profiles' for each mode and each journey measured. These were based on what level was required, would be tolerated and was received by travellers/respondents in the areas of Logistics (Assistance and Hindrance), Costs (Exchange and Consequential) and Benefits (Social, Personal, Enjoyment and carrying out Concurrent Tasks)(Probert 2001a). Each traveller was questioned on a mode/journey combination drawn from a range of six journey types and eight modes (air, rail, underground railway, bus/coach, taxi, car/van, cycle and walking). In addition, the results allowed for a proto-market segmentation of journey/traveller types. The research was conducted at The Judge Institute of Management Studies at the University of Cambridge, with assistance from the DETR's Seedcorn Research Programme, and was based on UK travellers and modes.
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