The deviation between the willingness and behavior of farmers to adopt electricity-saving tricycles and its influencing factors in Dazu District of China

Abstract

This study aims to explore whether there is a deviation between farmers' willingness and behavior to adopt electricity-saving tricycles and to identify factors influencing the deviation. A total of 234 rural households in Dazu District of China were selected by using the stratified random sampling technique and interviewed face-to-face. The cross-analysis method was employed to analyze the deviation, and the binary logit model was used to investigate the influencing factors on the deviation. The results demonstrate that there is a deviation between farmers' adoption willingness and behavior. Of the 193 farmers who were willing to adopt electricity-saving tricycles, only 52 had actual adoption behaviors in their families. The inconsistency rate was more than 73%. The regression results indicate that age, whether the respondents are village cadres, and the terrain of the dwelling have positive effects on the deviation. The number of permanent residents, the diversity of income structure, the area of the dwelling, the cognition toward climate change and individual behaviors of energy use, and whether the respondents participate in rural cooperatives or not affect the deviation negatively. Our findings provide policy implications for government measures to guide the transition from the willingness to the actual adoption behavior of farmers.