Buying an electric car: A rational choice or a norm-directed behavior?. (August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bobeth, Sebastian; Kastner, Ingo
• Is Part Of: Transportation research. Volume 73(2020)
• Page Start: 236
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2020-08
• Subjects: Electric car adoption -- Investment decisions -- Technology acceptance model -- Norm activation model -- Rationality -- Personal norm; Automobile drivers -- Psychology -- Periodicals; Automobile driving -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; Transportation -- Psychological aspects -- Periodicals; 629.283019
• DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2020.06.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1369-8478

Abstract

Highlights: We compared and integrated action models to explain electric car adoption. Electric car adoption was affected by rational and norm-directed motives. Personal norms and social norms explained the highest share of variance. The norm activation model was most efficient in predicting adoption intention. Abstract: The diffusion of electric cars can contribute to more sustainability in the transport sector, but diffusion rates in most countries are still low. We investigated motives for electric car adoption in German households from an environmental psychology perspective. The public debate focuses on rational aspects such as the purchase price or new technological demands (e.g., limited range and a new charging system). Psychological research on energy-related investment decisions in households confirms the relevance of rational motives, but additionally points to the importance of norm-directed motives (moral and social norms). We investigated the relevance of different motives in an online questionnaire with n = 220 members of German households interested in buying a new car. The questionnaire included possible rational and norm-related predictors of electric car adoption. We tested three action models to explain adoption intention: An adjusted technology acceptance model (TAM), an adjusted norm activation model (NAM), and an integrative model with predictors from both models. We analyzed the hypothesized models with path analyses. All models explained a substantial share of variance in adoption intention. The explained share of variance in the NAM was higher than in the TAM and comparably high to the integrative model. The results demonstrate the important role of moral and social motives for households' investment decisions. Additionally, the technology's perceived usefulness was an important rational motive. We discuss the context dependency of the results, as household members might have little knowledge about the new technology during the early stages of a technology's diffusion process. The results strongly suggest broadening political support schemes, such as informational and image campaigns, as a way to more effectively foster electric car diffusion. More comprehensive assessments appear to be necessary in future analyses of electric car adoption as well as energy-related investment decisions.