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How about electric vehicle? Sensing owners’ experiences and attitudes through online short video

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Listed:
  • Cui, Qinyu
  • Zhang, Yan
  • Ma, Haoran
  • Zhang, Kaihan
  • Peng, Jinhan
  • Chen, Zemu
  • Lin, Peiqun
  • Lin, Zhenhong

Abstract

Understanding the experiences and attitudes of electric vehicle (EV) owners is crucial for driving EV sales and thus promoting a sustainable environment. Previous studies have used costly and inflexible crowdsourced questionnaires to assess EV owner satisfaction. This study adopts an innovative approach by analyzing 41 h of video interviews with 2101 EV owners from a short video platform. Utilizing the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model, topics of concern for EV owners were identified, followed by sentiment analysis supported by a large language model (LLM) and random forest model. The results indicate that 1) “After-sales & Brand (19.75 %),” “Performance Experience (25.63 %),” “Functionality & Comfort (31.76 %),” and “Car Cost (22.86 %)” are the four main concerns of EV owners. Notably, concern for car costs is rising, while after-sales service is decreasing. 2) While EV ownership is mostly male, female owners exhibit a higher percentage of positive sentiment, with 47.16 % compared to 36.81 % for male owners. 3) “Functionality & Comfort” is the key satisfaction factor for both genders, then women prioritizing “After-sales and Brand” and men prioritizing “Performance Experience” as secondary concerns. This study proposes a new research framework and empirical case based on short-video data, offering valuable insights for potential consumers and automakers.

Suggested Citation

  • Cui, Qinyu & Zhang, Yan & Ma, Haoran & Zhang, Kaihan & Peng, Jinhan & Chen, Zemu & Lin, Peiqun & Lin, Zhenhong, 2025. "How about electric vehicle? Sensing owners’ experiences and attitudes through online short video," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-15.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:167:y:2025:i:c:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2025.03.012
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