Carrier selection in a RO/RO ferry trade Part 2. Conceptual framework for the decision process

The way that users select a shipping service from the range of available options is a complex and poorly understood process. It is difficult, if not impossible, to reduce all the attributes to a single dimesion—such as cost—and in reality no-one tries to do so. Using the results of a survey of shippers, a behavioural framework has been constructed to represent the stages in the decision process and the interaction of factors that influence the shipping manager. Previous models have tended to isolate and examine individual components of the process and have not linked these components together to form an integrated explanation. The proposed framework is a multi-stage process with elements of both compensatory and non-compensatory behaviour and a strong emphasis on risk avoidance.