Drivers Of Urban Residents’ Electric Vehicle Adoption Behavior In China

As emissions from the transport sector have become one of the main causes of global warming and air pollution,mitigating climate change requires innovation in low-carbon mobility.With the new generation of electric vehicles(EVs)entering into the conventional automobile market,it is highly anticipated that EVs may play an important role in maintaining energy security and mitigating environmental issues.To promote the development of EVs,on one hand,the Chinese government has already launched a series of policies,covering thirteen main respects: macroscopic policy,technological innovation,credit compliance,investment management,production admittance,financial subsidy,preference tax,power battery,infrastructure,intelligent development,insurance,security,and transportation;on the other hand,EV manufacturers have stepped up technological innovation to improve their product design.Nevertheless,Chinese consumers are not enthusiastic about adopting EVs,and the development of the EV market is far less than expected.Given that the popularity of EVs depends to a large extent on consumers’ views or attitudes towards them,it is particularly important to understand which attributes related to EVs are most likely to influence consumers’ decision-making and the mechanism of each attribute.To this end,this paper uses the mixed-method approach based on relevant research at home and abroad.This paper has carried out a series of prospective studies by constructing data sets with qualitative and quantitative characteristics.First,to understand which attributes associated with EVs are most likely to influence consumer perception and the overall structure of different types of attributes that promote consumers’ EV adoption,this paper applies the content analysis method to develop a new framework based on online review data provided by 3460 Chinese consumers who have purchased EVs during the period from 2013 to 2019.Compared with the prior literature that primarily focuses on the independent impact of different types of attributes on consumers’ EV adoption behavior,this paper finds that when different types of attributes constitute a sand cone with a cumulative structure(i.e.,instrumental attributes as the foundation,symbolic attributes as the second-level,and policy attributes as the third-level),consumers are more willing to adopt EVs.Second,given that instrumental attributes are the foundation for all decision-making attributes related to consumers’ EV adoption behavior,this paper is interested in how consumers make tradeoffs among different types of attributes(especially instrumental attributes).For this purpose,this paper integrates instrumental attributes,existing policy instruments,and emerging market-oriented policy instruments into the choice model to assess consumer preferences.Through a choice-based survey of 394 consumers,this paper finds that in addition to the instrumental attributes(e.g.,price,operating costs,charging time,cruising range,and the number of charging stations)that most past studies involved,battery warranty has a significant positive effect on consumers’ EV adoption decisions.Besides,for those consumers(nearly 12.20%)who pay much attention to cost per 100 kilometers,charging time,and depreciation rate,almost all policy instruments that reduce the operation cost(e.g.,personal carbon trading scheme)or increase convenience(e.g.,tradable driving credits scheme,parking/charging discount,and license restriction rescission)can increase their adoption of EVs.Third,because consumers are increasingly purchasing products not only for their practical functions but also for their symbolic meanings,this paper employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis(fs QCA)approach to explore the configuration of symbolic attributes that may lead to high EV adoption intention.Compared with previous studies that mainly analyze the marginal impact of different types of symbolic attributes(pro-environmental attributes,innovative attributes,and normative attributes)on consumer intentions to adopt EVs from a contingency perspective,the present research surveys 745 respondents and reveals that on one hand,different symbolic attributes can interact with each other to jointly enhance consumers’ EV adoption intention.On the other hand,compared with the mere existence of pro-environmental attributes,the co-existence of all three symbolic attributes can better explain the outcome for high EV adoption intention,thereby providing more practical implications.Fourth,to investigate whether and how policy mix characteristics may influence consumer intentions to adopt EVs,this paper develops an extended theory of planned behavior(TPB)framework by integrating TPB-variables with policy mix characteristics.The empirical results from 927 Chinese consumers reveal that the consistency,coherence,and credibility of policy mixes matter greatly with respect to increasing consumers’ EV adoption intentions.More importantly,the consistency negatively moderates the relationships between consumer attitude and purchase intention,between subjective norm and purchase intention,and between personal norm and purchase intention,but positively moderates the relationship between perceived behavioral control and purchase intention.Overall,this paper makes theoretical contributions to current EV adoption literature by revealing the overall structure of different attributes,consumer preferences for instrumental attributes,the configuration of symbolic attributes,and the mechanism of policy attributes.In addition,the findings of this paper can help governments and EV manufacturers improve policy intervention and marketing strategies,thereby accelerating the development of EVs.