IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4345-d362899.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Potential Early Adopters of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in Spain—Towards a Customer Profile

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Higueras-Castillo

    (Department of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Granada, Paseo de Cartuja 7, 18011 Granada, Spain)

  • Sebastian Molinillo

    (Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Malaga, El Ejido Campus, 29071 Malaga, Spain)

  • J. Andres Coca-Stefaniak

    (Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism, Faculty of Business, University of Greenwich, Park Row, London SE10 9LS, UK)

  • Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas

    (Department of Marketing and Market Research, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Granada, Paseo de Cartuja 7, 18011 Granada, Spain)

Abstract

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) by consumers is regarded as a key strategic goal for the reduction in transport-related air pollution levels. Although sales of EVs continue to rise year on year, generally, the attainment of the strategic goals set by various governments for the adoption of EVs remains a distant target. The purpose of this study is to identify the customer profile of early adopters of EVs in Spain: one of Europe’s largest economies, yet the country with the lowest uptake of EVs at present. The analysis presented here is based on an online survey of 404 potential consumers of EVs in Spain. A cluster analysis of the data was performed based on a set of three socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, and income), one psychographic (green moral obligation—GMO) and two EV attributes (price and driving range). The results of this analysis showed that there exist two segments with respect to higher or lower customer intentions related to the adoption of EVs. These findings represent a theoretical contribution to current understanding of the customer profile of adopters of EVs and will contribute to the development of communication and retail strategies aimed at customers fitting the profile of early adopters of new technologies.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Higueras-Castillo & Sebastian Molinillo & J. Andres Coca-Stefaniak & Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas, 2020. "Potential Early Adopters of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles in Spain—Towards a Customer Profile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4345-:d:362899
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4345/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4345/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth Gillingham & Karen Palmer, 2014. "Bridging the Energy Efficiency Gap: Policy Insights from Economic Theory and Empirical Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(1), pages 18-38, January.
    2. Russell Haines & Marc Street & Douglas Haines, 2008. "The Influence of Perceived Importance of an Ethical Issue on Moral Judgment, Moral Obligation, and Moral Intent," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(2), pages 387-399, August.
    3. Egbue, Ona & Long, Suzanna, 2012. "Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 717-729.
    4. Javid, Roxana J. & Nejat, Ali, 2017. "A comprehensive model of regional electric vehicle adoption and penetration," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 30-42.
    5. Erdem, Cumhur & Sentürk, Ismail & Simsek, Türker, 2010. "Identifying the factors affecting the willingness to pay for fuel-efficient vehicles in Turkey: A case of hybrids," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 3038-3043, June.
    6. Gass, V. & Schmidt, J. & Schmid, E., 2014. "Analysis of alternative policy instruments to promote electric vehicles in Austria," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 96-101.
    7. Gnann, Till & Stephens, Thomas S. & Lin, Zhenhong & Plötz, Patrick & Liu, Changzheng & Brokate, Jens, 2018. "What drives the market for plug-in electric vehicles? - A review of international PEV market diffusion models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 158-164.
    8. Adedamola Adepetu & Srinivasan Keshav, 2017. "The relative importance of price and driving range on electric vehicle adoption: Los Angeles case study," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 353-373, March.
    9. Gilles Laurent & Raphaelle Lambert-Pandraud, 2010. "Why Do Older Consumers Buy Older Brands? The Role of Attachment and Declining Innovativeness," Post-Print hal-00528378, HAL.
    10. Hoen, Anco & Koetse, Mark J., 2014. "A choice experiment on alternative fuel vehicle preferences of private car owners in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 199-215.
    11. Plötz, Patrick & Schneider, Uta & Globisch, Joachim & Dütschke, Elisabeth, 2014. "Who will buy electric vehicles? Identifying early adopters in Germany," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 96-109.
    12. Kim, Jinhee & Rasouli, Soora & Timmermans, Harry, 2014. "Expanding scope of hybrid choice models allowing for mixture of social influences and latent attitudes: Application to intended purchase of electric cars," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 71-85.
    13. Lieven, Theo, 2015. "Policy measures to promote electric mobility – A global perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 78-93.
    14. Fabien Leurent & Elisabeth Windisch, 2011. "Triggering the development of electric mobility: a review of public policies," Post-Print hal-00652472, HAL.
    15. Hardman, Scott & Shiu, Eric & Steinberger-Wilckens, Robert, 2016. "Comparing high-end and low-end early adopters of battery electric vehicles," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 40-57.
    16. She, Zhen-Yu & Qing Sun, & Ma, Jia-Jun & Xie, Bai-Chen, 2017. "What are the barriers to widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles? A survey of public perception in Tianjin, China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 29-40.
    17. Egnér, Filippa & Trosvik, Lina, 2018. "Electric vehicle adoption in Sweden and the impact of local policy instruments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 584-596.
    18. Elena Higueras-Castillo & Sebastian Molinillo & J. Andres Coca-Stefaniak & Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas, 2019. "Perceived Value and Customer Adoption of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-15, September.
    19. Junquera, Beatriz & Moreno, Blanca & Álvarez, Roberto, 2016. "Analyzing consumer attitudes towards electric vehicle purchasing intentions in Spain: Technological limitations and vehicle confidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 6-14.
    20. Hidrue, Michael K. & Parsons, George R. & Kempton, Willett & Gardner, Meryl P., 2011. "Willingness to pay for electric vehicles and their attributes," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 686-705, September.
    21. Higueras-Castillo, Elena & Kalinic, Zoran & Marinkovic, Veljko & Liébana-Cabanillas, Francisco J., 2020. "A mixed analysis of perceptions of electric and hybrid vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    22. Maria Gracia Rodríguez-Brito & Alfredo J. Ramírez-Díaz & Francisco J. Ramos-Real & Yannick Perez, 2018. "Psychosocial Traits Characterizing EV Adopters’ Profiles: The Case of Tenerife (Canary Islands)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-26, June.
    23. Karplus, Valerie J. & Paltsev, Sergey & Reilly, John M., 2010. "Prospects for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States and Japan: A general equilibrium analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 620-641, October.
    24. Fanchao Liao & Eric Molin & Bert van Wee, 2017. "Consumer preferences for electric vehicles: a literature review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 252-275, May.
    25. Zhang, Yong & Yu, Yifeng & Zou, Bai, 2011. "Analyzing public awareness and acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles in China: The case of EV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7015-7024.
    26. Larson, Paul D. & Viáfara, Jairo & Parsons, Robert V. & Elias, Arne, 2014. "Consumer attitudes about electric cars: Pricing analysis and policy implications," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 299-314.
    27. Helveston, John Paul & Liu, Yimin & Feit, Elea McDonnell & Fuchs, Erica & Klampfl, Erica & Michalek, Jeremy J., 2015. "Will subsidies drive electric vehicle adoption? Measuring consumer preferences in the U.S. and China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 96-112.
    28. Mohamed, Moataz & Higgins, Chris & Ferguson, Mark & Kanaroglou, Pavlos, 2016. "Identifying and characterizing potential electric vehicle adopters in Canada: A two-stage modelling approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 100-112.
    29. Noel, Lance & Papu Carrone, Andrea & Jensen, Anders Fjendbo & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Kester, Johannes & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2019. "Willingness to pay for electric vehicles and vehicle-to-grid applications: A Nordic choice experiment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 525-534.
    30. Martínez-Lao, Juan & Montoya, Francisco G. & Montoya, Maria G. & Manzano-Agugliaro, Francisco, 2017. "Electric vehicles in Spain: An overview of charging systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 970-983.
    31. Zhang, Xian & Wang, Ke & Hao, Yu & Fan, Jing-Li & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2013. "The impact of government policy on preference for NEVs: The evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 382-393.
    32. Sierzchula, William & Bakker, Sjoerd & Maat, Kees & van Wee, Bert, 2014. "The influence of financial incentives and other socio-economic factors on electric vehicle adoption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 183-194.
    33. Tran, Martino & Banister, David & Bishop, Justin D.K. & McCulloch, Malcolm D., 2013. "Simulating early adoption of alternative fuel vehicles for sustainability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(5), pages 865-875.
    34. Makena Coffman & Paul Bernstein & Sherilyn Wee, 2017. "Electric vehicles revisited: a review of factors that affect adoption," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 79-93, January.
    35. Ng, Mark & Law, Monica & Zhang, Serene, 2018. "Predicting purchase intention of electric vehicles in Hong Kong," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 272-280.
    36. Higueras-Castillo, Elena & Liébana-Cabanillas, Francisco José & Muñoz-Leiva, Francisco & García-Maroto, Inmaculada, 2019. "Evaluating consumer attitudes toward electromobility and the moderating effect of perceived consumer effectiveness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 387-398.
    37. Martino Tran & David Banister & Justin D. K. Bishop & Malcolm D. McCulloch, 2012. "Realizing the electric-vehicle revolution," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(5), pages 328-333, May.
    38. Barbarossa, Camilla & De Pelsmacker, Patrick & Moons, Ingrid, 2017. "Personal Values, Green Self-identity and Electric Car Adoption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 190-200.
    39. Wang, Shanyong & Li, Jun & Zhao, Dingtao, 2017. "The impact of policy measures on consumer intention to adopt electric vehicles: Evidence from China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 14-26.
    40. Biresselioglu, Mehmet Efe & Demirbag Kaplan, Melike & Yilmaz, Barbara Katharina, 2018. "Electric mobility in Europe: A comprehensive review of motivators and barriers in decision making processes," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1-13.
    41. Vassileva, Iana & Campillo, Javier, 2017. "Adoption barriers for electric vehicles: Experiences from early adopters in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 632-641.
    42. Campbell, Amy R. & Ryley, Tim & Thring, Rob, 2012. "Identifying the early adopters of alternative fuel vehicles: A case study of Birmingham, United Kingdom," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(8), pages 1318-1327.
    43. Ozaki, Ritsuko & Sevastyanova, Katerina, 2011. "Going hybrid: An analysis of consumer purchase motivations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2217-2227, May.
    44. Gabriela D. Oliveira & Luis C. Dias, 2019. "Influence of Demographics on Consumer Preferences for Alternative Fuel Vehicles: A Review of Choice Modelling Studies and a Study in Portugal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-33, January.
    45. Chen, Chien-fei & Zarazua de Rubens, Gerardo & Noel, Lance & Kester, Johannes & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2020. "Assessing the socio-demographic, technical, economic and behavioral factors of Nordic electric vehicle adoption and the influence of vehicle-to-grid preferences," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jose Esteves & Daniel Alonso-Martínez & Guillermo de Haro, 2021. "Profiling Spanish Prospective Buyers of Electric Vehicles Based on Demographics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Caulfield, Brian & Furszyfer, Dylan & Stefaniec, Agnieszka & Foley, Aoife, 2022. "Measuring the equity impacts of government subsidies for electric vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    3. Reema Bera & Bhargab Maitra, 2021. "Analyzing Prospective Owners’ Choice Decision towards Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Urban India: A Stated Preference Discrete Choice Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-24, July.
    4. Chorowski, Michał & Nowak, Andrzej & Andersen, Jørgen Vitting, 2023. "What makes products trendy: Introducing an innovation adoption model," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 616(C).
    5. Andri Ottesen & Sumayya Banna & Basil Alzougool, 2022. "Attitudes of Drivers towards Electric Vehicles in Kuwait," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chandra, Minal, 2022. "Investigating the impact of policies, socio-demography and national commitments on electric-vehicle demand: Cross-country study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Eunsung Kim & Eunnyeong Heo, 2019. "Key Drivers behind the Adoption of Electric Vehicle in Korea: An Analysis of the Revealed Preferences," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Ye Yang & Zhongfu Tan, 2019. "Investigating the Influence of Consumer Behavior and Governmental Policy on the Diffusion of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Kim, Moon-Koo & Oh, Jeesun & Park, Jong-Hyun & Joo, Changlim, 2018. "Perceived value and adoption intention for electric vehicles in Korea: Moderating effects of environmental traits and government supports," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 799-809.
    5. Goel, Pooja & Kumar, Aalok & Parayitam, Satyanarayana & Luthra, Sunil, 2023. "Understanding transport users' preferences for adopting electric vehicle based mobility for sustainable city: A moderated moderated-mediation model," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    6. Jose Esteves & Daniel Alonso-Martínez & Guillermo de Haro, 2021. "Profiling Spanish Prospective Buyers of Electric Vehicles Based on Demographics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Philip, Thara & Whitehead, Jake & Prato, Carlo G., 2023. "Adoption of electric vehicles in a laggard, car-dependent nation: Investigating the potential influence of V2G and broader energy benefits on adoption," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Moon-Koo Kim & Jong-Hyun Park & Kyungsoo Kim & Byoungkyu Park, 2020. "Identifying factors influencing the slow market diffusion of electric vehicles in Korea," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 663-688, April.
    9. Higueras-Castillo, Elena & Kalinic, Zoran & Marinkovic, Veljko & Liébana-Cabanillas, Francisco J., 2020. "A mixed analysis of perceptions of electric and hybrid vehicles," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    10. Zimm, Caroline, 2021. "Improving the understanding of electric vehicle technology and policy diffusion across countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 54-66.
    11. Meilinda Fitriani Nur Maghfiroh & Andante Hadi Pandyaswargo & Hiroshi Onoda, 2021. "Current Readiness Status of Electric Vehicles in Indonesia: Multistakeholder Perceptions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-25, November.
    12. Priessner, Alfons & Sposato, Robert & Hampl, Nina, 2018. "Predictors of electric vehicle adoption: An analysis of potential electric vehicle drivers in Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 701-714.
    13. Mohamed, Moataz & Higgins, Christopher D. & Ferguson, Mark & Réquia, Weeberb J., 2018. "The influence of vehicle body type in shaping behavioural intention to acquire electric vehicles: A multi-group structural equation approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 54-72.
    14. Simona Bigerna & Silvia Micheli, 2018. "Attitudes Toward Electric Vehicles: The Case of Perugia Using a Fuzzy Set Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    15. Hackbarth, André & Madlener, Reinhard, 2018. "Combined Vehicle Type and Fuel Type Choices of Private Households: An Empirical Analysis for Germany," FCN Working Papers 17/2018, E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN), revised May 2019.
    16. Aritra Ghosh, 2020. "Possibilities and Challenges for the Inclusion of the Electric Vehicle (EV) to Reduce the Carbon Footprint in the Transport Sector: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    17. Jaiswal, Deepak & Kaushal, Vikrant & Kant, Rishi & Kumar Singh, Pankaj, 2021. "Consumer adoption intention for electric vehicles: Insights and evidence from Indian sustainable transportation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    18. Jia, Wenjian & Jiang, Zhiqiu & Wang, Qian & Xu, Bin & Xiao, Mei, 2023. "Preferences for zero-emission vehicle attributes: Comparing early adopters with mainstream consumers in California," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 21-32.
    19. Jingnan Zhang & Shichun Xu & Zhengxia He & Chengze Li & Xiaona Meng, 2022. "Factors Influencing Adoption Intention for Electric Vehicles under a Subsidy Deduction: From Different City-Level Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    20. Gulzari, Adeela & Wang, Yuchen & Prybutok, Victor, 2022. "A green experience with eco-friendly cars: A young consumer electric vehicle rental behavioral model," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4345-:d:362899. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.