CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW

E-hailing services are well known to the people especially in the Klang Valley as it

helps to save the time and cost from going to one place and to another. The uses of

smartphones have catalyzed rapid growth of app-based ride-hailing services (also known as e-

hailing ride-for-hire services), by requesting rides via a mobile application, customers are

matched efficiently by an online platform with affiliated drivers nearby (Xu, Yin, Ye, 2019). As

E-hailing are commonly related to “Grab” services, the researcher is focused on the greatness

that it brings to the community that are using the services that have been provided by “Grab”.

The difference between an e-hailing service and the traditional taxi service is that taxi or Grab

drivers and passengers can be directly connected through third-party mobile phone applications

in the smartphone. Passengers can request taxi services through smartphone applications, and

taxi drivers will obtain information on the passenger’s origin and destination in advance (Su

and Fang, 2019). The uses of e-hailing system is a simple a click of a button as user can

ordered their ride by using their smartphone rather than waiving beside the road to call for a

taxi and this can also bring threat as some people take those opportunity to smuggle or robs

people beside the road as they are very vulnerable and an easy target.

In the current world, time is very valuable and what make a service convenient is that a

service that helps to reduce the consumption of time where a consumer can fully utilize their

time to the maximum. As Grab provide services of transportation and delivery of goods, it

helps to ease a person life where it helps to replace the work as a normal person would do. For

instance, as in conventional method where in order for a person to move from one place to

another is by driving their vehicle, taking public transport or by walking. This conventional

method consumes a lot of time whereby most of the time wasted was the time consume to waits
for public transport, and if driving, the time of traffic congestion or to find a parking spot, if by

walking, the time to reach the destination and the energy consume will cause a lot of wasted

time. Therefore, Grab offers a service whereas a consumer is able to cut and reduce the time to

reach their destination with just a click on their smartphone and a driver will come and pick

them and deliver them safely to their destination.

Grab always ensure the safety of its passenger/customer whereas in order a person to

become a grab driver, they must pass through certain inspection and test whereas the car that

they are using must go through the Grab inspection and the driver must provide full

background check by the Grab agent. This is to ensure that Grab driver are safe from any

criminal records whereby it can affect the reputation of Grab if a passenger/customer was harm

during the transit of Grab car. Grab’s Commitment to a smoother transition through e-hailing

regulation comprises of full medical check-up, PSV license, E-hailing permit and insurance,

Puspakom vehicle inspection and thing to keep in mind when driving for Grab Driver (Grab

Malaysia, 2020). As for the consumer, Grab provide brief detail on the driver and the car that

they are going to be in and Grab also provide an emergency button on the passenger

smartphone in the Grab mobile application if there are any emergency or being harm by the

driver. This precaution is to ensure the safety of the passenger where the passenger will always

feel safe and having a piece of mind in travelling with the Grab driver.

In sum, after gathering and analyzing all the available literature to support this study,

there are some limitation where the Grab driver attitude unable to be measure as an attitude of a

person varies from one to another. Other than that, the emotion and mood of a person cannot be

measure as maybe on a good day a grab driver can become a cheerful and a happy person and

on a bad day, the reaction of the Grab driver may be the other way around. This limitation also
applied to the passenger, consumer or the person who are using Grab services as the passenger

may not giving the correct information for the studies as the perception of a person varies based

on their attitude and reaction towards grab driver on that moment. Because of this, the

researchers faced numerous challenges to gather and select the right and suitable literature to

support this study. Therefore, after analyzing all the literature that has been selected to support

this study, 3 different independent variables were designed based on it and all the selected

supporting literature to be studied and compared with the dependent variable of this study. The

3 different independent variables are the effectives of e-hailing are the fees, the services

provided and the knowledge of the driver.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Dependent Variable: The Effectiveness of Grab Services

Cambridge dictionary define effectiveness as the ability to be successful and produce

the intended results. The meaning itself shows that to in order to become effective, it must

comprise of the ability to be successful and must come out with a good result. So why Grab

services so effective? The purpose of the research is to know and understand why Grab

services so effective toward the community in the Lembah Klang even there are local hailing/

transport (Taxi) already been establish for a long time. Before we talk about the Grab services,

we need to know that smartphone has help a lot in making work easier for human.

Technological applications that utilize the Internet, such as smartphones, have changed the way

society conducts business and individual daily lifestyles. Users and adopters of these

technologies are able to share unused property, extra resources, time and skills across online

platforms (Wosskow, 2014). With the help of smart phone, it is easier to connect and
communicate with each other and this also relates to Grab services as Grab services need a

smartphone to operate successfully.

Grab provide the services of e-hailing service whereby the service of pick-up and drop-

off of a passenger from one point to another by requesting a driver using a smart phone. We

can also have the detail of the driver and other useful Information that will help use along the

journey. With e-hailing apps, customers are able to retrieve information regarding vehicle and

drivers especially driver’s rating, estimated time of arrival, approximate travel fare based on

the distance of the route, and can keep an eye to the map for confirming whether the driver

used the most favorable travel route (Idros, Mohamed, Jenal, 2020) Why Grab service are so

easy and effective? This is due to the way of their usage and method to request a driver is as

easy as a click away. E-hailing services offer convenient passenger-to-taxi booking services

and improve the quality of urban taxi services (Su, Fang, Lou and Zhu, 2018). As known, in

order to catch or request a taxi, a person need to be at the road side or search for a taxi stand

nearby where it consumes a lot of time and energy. Instead, a person can simply order a Grab

driver to pick them at their doorstep, so rather than looking for a taxi, it is much better if the

taxi is the one that comes to us whenever a person request it. This situation is very helpful

especially during rainy day, where the possibility to searched for a taxi or heading to a taxi

stand considered to be quite a hassle. However, with using Grab services, the driver will come

to you and make your work and life much easier and there is no need for a person to get

through the rain and ended up with wet clothes.

The researchers have found the main reason for the effectiveness of Grab services are

comprises of three element that is the fees, the quality of Grab service and the knowledge of the

driver. Therefore, these three elements have set a high stand for e-hailing services especially
“Grab” where it gives great experience toward the community in Lembah Klang.
1st Independent Variable: The Fees of GrabCar Services

Fees is an amount of money paid for a particular piece of work or for a particular right

of service. Fees is one of the important elements that a consumer focuses on. Consumer or

passenger will look for services that provide lower fees with the best quality that they can find.

As before, the taxi fees or rate are depending on the distance and time consume in the taxi and

the price may varies depend on the situation on the road such as traffic jam, raining day, travel

distance and etc. E-hailing services offer on-demand services at an affordable price in

comparison with other modes of transportation, such as taxis, which is sometimes below the

market rates (Jais, Marzuki, 2020). Some taxi driver is quite picky when choosing a passenger

especially when the distance that they are heading too are heavily congested especially during

rush hour or if it were far reach to the end of town. The fees are not consistence and also are

not to know before riding the taxi because it is based on the meter display on the dashboard.

Hence, consumer is sometimes afraid to take traditional taxi due to the inconsistencies of fees

and rate that they provided.

What Grab services offer are fee which the customer will know of as it displays on their

smartphone screen before riding the Grab Car and on a positive side the fees are fixed if their

destination did not pass any toll gate. Numerous e-hailing users have since been using the

services available to exploit the connectivity of the transportation networks further in getting to

their destinations at a timely and cost-saving manner (Frost & Sullivan, 2016). This is a

comprehensive method where passenger will know the exact amount to pay to reach their

destination and they will be no extra cost or payment to be paid to the driver. The price is being

display in the Grab application where passenger can check the price of their desire destination

and also passenger can have an option on the car that are the most comfortable for them and all
the price are being displayed even before booking for a car even completed. Therefore, this

make it easier for the passenger to budget their trip to travel to their destination rather than not

knowing the exact amount that needs to be paid when riding a conventional taxi. The fees of

GrabCar services influence for the effectiveness of Grab services to the community.

Smartphone mobile applications were used for reservation, ratings (for both drivers and

passengers), and electronic payment (Azevedo & Maciejewski, 2015). Passenger can also make

a payment via internet banking or using Grab pay for their conveniences as it also a way for us

to conserve the environment and go cashless.

2nd Independent Variable: The Quality of GrabCar Services

Service is a transaction in which no physical goods are transferred from the seller to the

buyer. Services play an important role in bringing satisfaction towards customer and that is the

reason why Grab services are the most preferable e-hailing service provider by the customer in

Klang Valley as they provide great services to them. Grab offers the service of transporting a

passenger from one point to another in the most convenient way. Grab Service help us to

reduce the problem of locating a parking spot, saving our petrol budget and on top of that it is

flexible as it is always available when needed. The Transport Facility is travel duration, costs,

quality of service, availability of transportation and parking space (Chiu Chuen, Karim, &

Yusoff, 2014). Grab offer the service of picking up passenger at their doorstep whereas a

decade ago, in order for us to catch a taxi, a person must be beside the roadway or search for a

taxi stand where this causes a waste of time and energy, however with Grab, passenger can

order their driver through the Grab application on their smart phone and a driver will come pick

them up anywhere near them. So rather than a person find taxi’s, why not we have a taxi that
come to the person. A rider who uses e-hailing services typically goes through three

consecutive stages, sending out a request of ride, receiving a match with an idle vehicle, and

boarding the vehicle on its arrival (Xu, Yin and Ye, 2019). To order a Grab Driver is easy

where a person only need a smartphone with them, follow the guideline provided in the

application, insert all the relevant detail and a Grab driver will be there shortly.

Grab Service offer from a standard commercial car to the luxury car and passenger also have

an option to choose their desired capacity to be occupied in the car from three-seater sedan to

six-seater Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV). This way, it can ease the passenger budgeting their

trip as they can booked their ride based on their preferences or needs by simply ordering it

through their smart phone. Hence, these shared mobility services can provide a smooth and

pleasant means of transportation, which can either be impartial or integrated with another form

of the transportation system (Nielsen, 2015). Grab services have helped many customers in

making their life and work easy and as convenience as possible.

3rd Independent Variable: The Knowledge of GrabCar Driver

Cambridge Dictionary define knowledge as awareness, understanding, or information

that has been obtained by experience or study, and that is either in a person’s mind or possessed

by people generally. Knowledge is important to everyone as known whereas it helps to become

a civilized race. As for Grab driver, most of the driver are young where they are exposed to the

use of Information Technology (IT) and up to date with the current technology. The impact of

Smartphones is visible in all areas of life including business, education, health, marketing,

social life etc. (Rather & Khazer 2019). For instance, usually been seen that the conventional

taxi driver age is ranged between late 40’s to early 60’s as most of them are already old and
less energetic as compared to young people. Community can barely see young people driving

conventional taxi and mostly young people are the driver of Grab Car. Most of the Grab driver

must have basics of using a smart phone and the latest Global Positioning System (GPS) to

locate and track the location of the passenger and the drop off point of the destination. With the

help of this technology, it helps to reduce the chances of error in delivery a passenger to their

desired location. For example, when the grab driver is lost on the pick-up or drop-off point, the

passenger can simply send the exact location to the driver through WhatsApp application and

this will help the driver to locate their passenger easily.

Grab driver also must comply with all the requirement needed to become a Grab driver

and it is not as simple as applying to become a Grab driver alone, but the driver must go

through series of inspection before they are qualified to become a Grab driver. E-hailing

drivers must comply with the requirements, as drivers who were found to drive without PSV

and EVP would be liable for fines or jail terms upon conviction (Teoh, 2019). Grab’s

Commitment to a smoother transition through e-hailing regulation comprises of full medical

check-up, PSV license, E-hailing permit and insurance, Puspakom vehicle inspection and thing

to keep in mind when driving for Grab Driver (Grab Malaysia, 2020). So, it is not easy to

become a Grab driver, this is to make sure that all Grab driver are qualified for the work and in

making sure that the service provided by Grab are the best.
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK

FRAMEWORK OF VARIABLES

Independent variables

1. THE FEES OF GRABCAR

-(Jais & Marzuki, 2020)

-(Frost & Sullivan, 2016)

-(Azevedo & Maciejewski,

2015)
Dependent variable

EFFECTIVENESS OF E-HAILING
2. THE QUALITY OF
TOWARD THE COMMUNITY
GRABCAR SERVICES

-(Xu, Yin, Ye, 2019) - (Idros, Mohamed & Jenal, 2020)

-(Chiu Chuen, KarimOF
3. KNOWLEDGE & -(Wosskow, 2014)
Yusoff,
GRABCAR 2014)DRIVER
-(Su, Fang, Lou and Zhu, 2018)
-(Nielsen, 2015)
-(Teoh, 2019)

-(Grab Malaysia, 2020)

-(Rather & Khazer, 2019)

 Diagram: Framework of Variables
MATRIX OF LITERATURE REVIEW

VARIABLE LITERATURE REVIEW

DEPENDENT VARIABLE - (Idros, Mohamed & Jenal, 2020)

- EFFECTIVENESS OF E-HAILING -(Wosskow, 2014)

TOWARD THE COMMUNITY -(Su, Fang, Lou and Zhu, 2018)

1ST INDEPENDENT VARIABLE -(Jais & Marzuki, 2020)

- THE FEES OF GRABCAR -(Frost & Sullivan, 2016)

-(Azevedo & Maciejewski, 2015)

2ND INDEPENDENT VARIABLE - THE -(Xu, Yin, Ye, 2019)

QUALITY OF GRABCAR SERVICES
-(Chiu Chuen, Karim & Yusoff, 2014)

-(Nielsen, 2015)

3RD INDEPENDENT VARIABLE -(Teoh, 2019)

- KNOWLEDGE OF GRABCAR DRIVER -(Grab Malaysia, 2020)

-(Rather & Khazer, 2019)

HYPOTHESIS

Definition hypothesis

A hypothesis is a precise, testable statement of what the researchers predict will be the

outcome of the study. Hypotheses is a network of associations between the problem and the

variables that affect it is identified. A scientific hypothesis must meet two requirements which
is hypotheses must be testable and must be falsifiable (we can only prove our hypotheses until

they are disproved). In addition, as mentioned the hypotheses predicts what the researchers

expect to see, the goal of research is to determine whether this guess is right or wrong (Kabir,

2016)

The hypotheses play a significant role in the scientific studies. There are some advantages of

hypothesis:

➢ Hypotheses forces us to think more deeply and specifically about the possible outcomes

of a study. It enables us to understand what the question implies and exactly what

variables are involved

➢ Hypotheses stating helps researchers to see if we are or are not investigating a

relationship.

The research has identified the following hypotheses:

I. There is significant positive relationship between fees gain to the effectiveness e-hailing

service to the community in the Klang Valley.

II. There is significant positive relationship between the quality of GrabCar services

provide to effectiveness e-hailing service to the community in the Klang Valley.

III. There is significant positive relationship between knowledge of driver to the

effectiveness e-hailing service to the community in the Klang Valley.

IV. There is a significant difference in the mean of gender and the effectiveness of e-hailing

(Grab) towards the community in Klang valley.

V. There is a significant difference in the mean of ethnic and the effectiveness of e-hailing

(Grab) towards the community in Klang valley.