Customers’ Attitude on New Energy Vehicles’ Policies and Policy Impact on Customers’ Purchase Intention

Abstract

Abstract Under the background of worse air pollution and sluggish economic growth, green transportation is regarded as a powerful means to address these challenges and the governments in China's Capital Economic Circle (i.e. Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei) are making a great effort to promote new energy vehicles (NEVs). A series of new policies are issued to encourage the use of NEVs. A nature question is to know what the customers’ attitude on the NEVs and NEVs’ policies is, and what the effects of policies on customers’ purchase intention will be. Based on a consumer survey, this paper explores the consumers’ attitudes on NEVs by statistical analysis, and investigates the effects of NEVs’ policies on consumers’ behavioral intention with a structural equation model (SEM). The results indicate that: Consumers prefer hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) followed by plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), but consumers’ cognition of NEVs and related policies is insufficient. Policy preferences are different among consumers’ in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. Policies promote behavioral intention by easing perceived risks of consumers and the positive effects are transmitted through purchase willingness. There are correlations among perceived risks and differences among policies, so the effects of policies acting on each perceived risk vary widely.