Abstract
Through a choice experiment conducted among 995 Swiss respondents, we studied the linkages between prior investment decisions and the choice of travel mode. Our experimental design and empirical framework aimed to identify the impact of electric vehicles (EVs) and to test for two behavioral deviations from rationally optimal usage. Prior investment in a car or public transport pass could be used ex ante as a commitment device for overcoming self-control issues, or could affect mode choices ex post through the regret effect of sunk costs. We found no evidence to support the sunk cost hypothesis, but our findings provided partial evidence in favor of commitment mechanisms. A prior investment decision decreased the consumer’s responsiveness to variation of travel time. However, such commitments did not seem to influence responses to changes in marginal travel costs. Further, we found that EV adoption in the experiment did not result in a significant step-change in hypothetical usage patterns above rational marginal cost reactions. Our results thus reinforced the importance of financial incentives in policies aimed at a behavioral change in travel mode choices.
Highlights
Stated preference (SP) studies, choice experiments, have long been used to study consumer preferences and behavior, and the topic of transport and travel has been a key part of its use and development (10, 11)
We estimated four models based on Equation 1: (1) including respondent characteristics and the car choice; (2) adding car-choice interactions to test the behavioral impact of green cars; (3) adding our primary behavioral tests; and (4) adding our secondary behavioral tests
From the results of Model 1, we focused on the impact of respondent characteristics on mode choices
Summary
SP studies, choice experiments, have long been used to study consumer preferences and behavior, and the topic of transport and travel has been a key part of its use and development (10, 11). Many governments and businesses rely on these methods to predict consumer choices and preferences for various potential future policies or new products (12). This is especially true for new technologies pre-introduction or before a large enough market has developed that could provide a sufficient amount of RP data (8, 13). In the face of criticisms about hypothetical bias of SP responses and lack of external validity, several methodologies were developed to ensure incentive compatibility and the truthful elicitation of respondent preferences. EVs are commonly discussed in the media and in society, and their benefits and challenges seem to be widely known
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