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How are social-psychological factors related to consumer preferences for plug-in electric vehicles? Case studies from two cities in China

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  • Yang, J.
  • Chen, F.

Abstract

To facilitate market penetration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), situational factors such as policy incentives and technical attributes have been widely examined in the literature. Studies have confirmed the contributions of financial incentives and license number plate restrictions to PEV diffusion in mega-cities in China. However, it is difficult to explain the growth of PEV uptake after 2017 in non-first- and second-tier cities. This study aims to provide insights into the possible influences in the social system across different types of cities. Specifically, this study compares the impacts of social-psychological factors on consumers' preferences for attributes of passenger PEVs as well as willingness to pay in a second-tier city Hangzhou and a third-tier city Linyi. Three groups of social-psychological factors are generated, namely, knowledge (i.e., knowledge of PEV and subsidies), social influence (i.e., interpersonal communication and neighborhood effects), and personality (i.e., environmental concern, innovativeness and social followers). The factors are integrated with an object-case best-worst scaling experiment via a hybrid choice model. The findings show that these factors affect consumers' preferences and willingness to pay differently in these two cities. Knowledge and environmental concern have weaker impacts on preferences compared to social influence and innovativeness. The results indicate that in cities like Linyi, policy clarification is necessary to deepen citizens’ knowledge of PEVs and subsidies. In large cities such as Hangzhou, social influence and innovativeness may work complementally to increase PEV uptake. In addition, highlighting technological development and building a clean power network may encourage PEV uptake in both cities.

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  • Yang, J. & Chen, F., 2021. "How are social-psychological factors related to consumer preferences for plug-in electric vehicles? Case studies from two cities in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:149:y:2021:i:c:s1364032121006110
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2021.111325
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