Environmental awareness trumps cost in electric car purchase decisions, says study

Electric cars are seen as a more sustainable option compared to conventional vehicles, which contribute to increases in greenhouse gases. However, their adoption in Spain is still limited (21% penetration rate), especially when compared to the high adoption rates in countries such as Norway (with rates of 142.7%).

With the view to ascertaining the factors that drove consumers to buy electric cars or not, a team from the Business Organization Area of the University of Cordoba has developed, in collaboration with the universities of Seville and Pablo de Olavide, a model that explores the intention of buying this product. The research is published in the journal Technology in Society.

“We thought it was a good idea to combine different solid theoretical frameworks to study not only the intention to buy an electric car, but also to include other types of variables that were not being studied at the time,” explains Javier Cabeza, a researcher at the UCO.

The theoretical framework of the model combines a more rational theory (Theory of Planned Behavior) and another one based more on consumer altruism (Norm Activation Model). In addition, it includes, as a novelty, willingness to pay, a parameter hardly considered in relation to this subject and which, as Cabeza points out, “is a variable that is even closer to real behavior, because when you state that you are willing to pay an extra amount for a certain product, you are getting a better idea of what the consumer is going to really do.”

The model, which was fed with survey data from 1,241 regular drivers in Spain, also relates these variables to perceived risks, such as that of paying more, or getting lower performance due to battery life.

With all these parameters, the model shows that the most decisive factor when opting for an electric car is environmental awareness. As the other UCO researcher participating in the study, Sandra Sánchez, explains, “The most striking thing is that the main variable that influences the intention to buy is having a positive attitude towards the purchase of electric vehicles.

“What most influences this attitude is awareness of the consequences of not opting for this type of transportation. Rationality has less influence, and environmental awareness is more important. Thus, economic and performance risks were not as pivotal as environmental sensitivity.”

This purchase intention, which positively influences willingness to pay, according to this study, is much more influenced by this environmental awareness among people under age 30. The relationship between purchase intention and willingness to pay is even higher among people over 30, or with high incomes. Along with the study of these demographic indicators, the model includes the exploration of possible purchase intention moderation factors to complete the analysis.

With these results, governments and electric vehicle companies can better understand what motivates the adoption of this product, and promote it in their campaigns (with messages that bolster this feeling of sustainability, for example), as well as improve issues like the network of charging points (with a current indicator of 9.6% compared to 86.2% in the Netherlands) so that this is another positive aspect that can help encourage the adoption of this sustainable mobility.