IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v312y2024ics0360544224033942.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring vehicle preference dynamics: Analyzing the influence of oil price volatility on consumer car purchase decisions - A comparative survey experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Du, Zhili
  • Zhang, Guowei
  • Lin, Boqiang

Abstract

China's automobile market is continuously expanding, leading to ongoing growth in oil demand. Fluctuations in oil prices will inevitably impact the travel patterns and car purchasing behavior of automotive consumers. This paper analyzes the influence of gasoline price fluctuations on the travel patterns and car purchasing behaviors of auto consumers with varying incomes, employing a dynamic perspective. We conducted a questionnaire survey of auto consumers in four first-tier cities in China and performed a comparative analysis of questionnaire data from 2015 to 2022. The empirical findings are as follows: (1) Under conditions of elevated oil prices, fuel car consumers exhibit an increased susceptibility to oil price fluctuations, which may cause fuel car consumers to curtail their travel activities. (2) The 10 yuan/liter is the threshold for middle - and upper-income consumers to change their car buying or travel habits, which has not been affected by oil price fluctuations. (3) For the cohort considering electric vehicles, gasoline prices stand as the primary determinant influencing their car buying choices. The primary conclusions serve as significant references for the government to craft corresponding carbon emission reduction policies amidst fluctuating oil prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Du, Zhili & Zhang, Guowei & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Exploring vehicle preference dynamics: Analyzing the influence of oil price volatility on consumer car purchase decisions - A comparative survey experiment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:312:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224033942
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.133616
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224033942
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2024.133616?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baur, Dirk G. & Todorova, Neda, 2018. "Automobile manufacturers, electric vehicles and the price of oil," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 252-262.
    2. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Mukherjee, Zinnia & Gupta, Rangan & Balcilar, Mehmet, 2019. "A wavelet analysis of the relationship between oil and natural gas prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 118-124.
    3. Baghestani, Hamid, 2019. "An analysis of vehicle-buying attitudes of US consumers," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 62-68.
    4. Wang, Yu Shan, 2013. "Oil price effects on personal consumption expenditures," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 198-204.
    5. Zhang, Tong & Burke, Paul J., 2022. "The effect of gasoline prices on suburban housing values in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Michael Gelman & Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Shachar Kariv & Dmitri Koustas & Matthew D. Shapiro & Dan Silverman & Steven Tadelis, 2023. "The Response of Consumer Spending to Changes in Gasoline Prices," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 129-160, April.
    7. Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia & Prince, Lea, 2013. "Gasoline price volatility and the elasticity of demand for gasoline," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 111-117.
    8. Wang, Xia & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "How has consumers' willingness to pay for the environmental value of new energy vehicles changed? Based on comparative surveys in 2016 and 2023," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(PA).
    9. Sallee, James M. & West, Sarah E. & Fan, Wei, 2016. "Do consumers recognize the value of fuel economy? Evidence from used car prices and gasoline price fluctuations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 61-73.
    10. Hennessy, Hugh & Tol, Richard S.J., 2011. "The impact of tax reform on new car purchases in Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7059-7067.
    11. Richard Williams, 2010. "Fitting heterogeneous choice models with oglm," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 10(4), pages 540-567, December.
    12. Yatchew, Adonis & Griliches, Zvi, 1985. "Specification Error in Probit Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 134-139, February.
    13. Shi, Lei & Wu, Rongxin & Lin, Boqiang, 2023. "Where will go for electric vehicles in China after the government subsidy incentives are abolished? A controversial consumer perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PA).
    14. Wang, Kai-Hua & Su, Chi-Wei & Xiao, Yidong & Liu, Lu, 2022. "Is the oil price a barometer of China's automobile market? From a wavelet-based quantile-on-quantile regression perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    15. Sun, Huiqian & Jing, Peng & Wang, Baihui & Cai, Yunhao & Ye, Jie & Wang, Bichen, 2023. "The effect of record-high gasoline prices on the consumers’ new energy vehicle purchase intention: Evidence from the uniform experimental design," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    16. Zhao, Jing, 2022. "Exploring the influence of the main factors on the crude oil price volatility: An analysis based on GARCH-MIDAS model with Lasso approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Zhang, Zhikai & He, Mengxi & Zhang, Yaojie & Wang, Yudong, 2022. "Geopolitical risk trends and crude oil price predictability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    18. Song, Yu & Chen, Bo & Hou, Na & Yang, Yi, 2022. "Terrorist attacks and oil prices: A time-varying causal relationship analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    19. Chiang, Thomas C., 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty, risk and stock returns: Evidence from G7 stock markets," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 41-49.
    20. Hossein Hassani & Mansi Ghodsi & Xu Huang & Emmanuel Sirimal Silva, 2021. "Is there a causal relationship between oil prices and tourist arrivals?," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 191-202, January.
    21. Givord, Pauline & Grislain-Letrémy, Céline & Naegele, Helene, 2018. "How do fuel taxes impact new car purchases? An evaluation using French consumer-level data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 76-96.
    22. Qu, Ying & Liu, Yakun & Zhu, Qinghua & Liu, Yue, 2014. "Motivating small-displacement car purchasing in China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 47-58.
    23. Pacini, Henrique & Silveira, Semida, 2011. "Consumer choice between ethanol and gasoline: Lessons from Brazil and Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 6936-6942.
    24. Lin, Boqiang & Yang, Mengqi, 2024. "Changes in consumer satisfaction with electric vehicle charging infrastructure: Evidence from two cross-sectional surveys in 2019 and 2023," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    25. Ding, Shusheng & Zheng, Dandan & Cui, Tianxiang & Du, Min, 2023. "The oil price-inflation nexus: The exchange rate pass- through effect," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    26. Xu, Lei & Chen, Jingrui & Qu, Fang & Wang, Jue & Lu, Yi, 2022. "Queuing to refuel before price rise in China: How do gasoline price changes affect consumer responses and behaviours?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    27. Su, Chi-Wei & Wang, Dan & Mirza, Nawazish & Zhong, Yifan & Umar, Muhammad, 2023. "The impact of consumer confidence on oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    28. Li, Zeyun & Wei, Xuecheng & Al Shraah, Ata & Khudoykulov, Khurshid & Albasher, Gadah & Ortiz, Geovanny Gerano Reivan, 2023. "Role of green energy usage in reduction of environmental degradation: A comparative study of East Asian countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    29. Shu Mo & Ting Wang, 2022. "Synergistic Effects of International Oil Price Fluctuations and Carbon Tax Policies on the Energy–Economy–Environment System in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-17, October.
    30. Du, Zhili & Lin, Boqiang, 2017. "How oil price changes affect car use and purchase decisions? Survey evidence from Chinese cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 68-74.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Su, Chi-Wei & Wang, Dan & Mirza, Nawazish & Zhong, Yifan & Umar, Muhammad, 2023. "The impact of consumer confidence on oil prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Xu, Lei & Chen, Jingrui & Qu, Fang & Wang, Jue & Lu, Yi, 2022. "Queuing to refuel before price rise in China: How do gasoline price changes affect consumer responses and behaviours?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    3. Sun, Huiqian & Jing, Peng & Wang, Baihui & Cai, Yunhao & Ye, Jie & Wang, Bichen, 2023. "The effect of record-high gasoline prices on the consumers’ new energy vehicle purchase intention: Evidence from the uniform experimental design," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    4. Su, Chi Wei & Shao, Xuefeng & Jia, Zhijie & Nepal, Rabindra & Umar, Muhammad & Qin, Meng, 2023. "The rise of green energy metal: Could lithium threaten the status of oil?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Charlie Tchinda & Marcus Dejardin, 2021. "Are Business Policy Measures in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic to Be Equally Valued? An Exploration According to SMEs Owners’ Business Expectations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-42, October.
    6. Wixe, Sofia & Nilsson, Pia & Naldi, Lucia & Westlund, Hans, 2017. "Disentangling Innovation in Small Food Firms: The role of External Knowledge, Support, and Collaboration," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 446, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    7. Xiao, Jihong & Wen, Fenghua & He, Zhifang, 2023. "Impact of geopolitical risks on investor attention and speculation in the oil market: Evidence from nonlinear and time-varying analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    8. Javier D. Donna, 2021. "Measuring long‐run gasoline price elasticities in urban travel demand," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(4), pages 945-994, December.
    9. Wang, Kai-Hua & Su, Chi-Wei & Xiao, Yidong & Liu, Lu, 2022. "Is the oil price a barometer of China's automobile market? From a wavelet-based quantile-on-quantile regression perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    10. Yang, Tianle & Dong, Qingyuan & Du, Min & Du, Qunyang, 2023. "Geopolitical risks, oil price shocks and inflation: Evidence from a TVP–SV–VAR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).
    11. Meng, Xin & Yu, Yanni, 2023. "Does the Russia-Ukraine conflict affect gasoline prices?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Du, Zhili & Lin, Boqiang, 2017. "How oil price changes affect car use and purchase decisions? Survey evidence from Chinese cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 68-74.
    13. Faisal, Faisal & Rahman, Sami Ur & Chander, Rajnesh & Ali, Adnan & Ramakrishnan, Suresh & Ozatac, Nesrin & Ullah, Mr Noor & Tursoy, Turgut, 2021. "Investigating the nexus between GDP, oil prices, FDI, and tourism for emerging economy: Empirical evidence from the novel fourier ARDL and hidden cointegration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Jain, Prachi & Maitra, Debasish & Kang, Sang Hoon, 2023. "Oil price and the automobile industry: Dynamic connectedness and portfolio implications with downside risk," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Ghoddusi, Hamed & Morovati, Mohammad & Rafizadeh, Nima, 2019. "Foreign Exchange Shocks and Gasoline Consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Yahong Jiang & Qunqi Wu & Min Li & Yulei Gu & Jun Yang, 2023. "What Is Affecting the Popularity of New Energy Vehicles? A Systematic Review Based on the Public Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-29, September.
    17. Knotek, Edward S. & Zaman, Saeed, 2021. "Asymmetric responses of consumer spending to energy prices: A threshold VAR approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    18. Li, Ye & Chen, Yiyan & Lean, Hooi Hooi, 2024. "Geopolitical risk and crude oil price predictability: Novel decomposition ensemble approach based ternary interval number series," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    19. Orkhan Nadirov & Jana Vychytilová & Bruce Dehning, 2020. "Carbon Taxes and the Composition of New Passenger Car Sales in Europe," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    20. Priya, Pragati & Sharma, Chandan, 2024. "On transmission channels of energy prices and monetary policy shocks to household consumption: Evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:312:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224033942. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.