TITLE:
Is India Ready for e-Mobility? An Exploratory Study to Understand e-Vehicles Purchase Intention
AUTHORS:
Sita Mishra, Gunjan Malhotra
KEYWORDS:
Automobile Sector, Electric Vehicle, Utility Theory, Purchase Intention, India, e-Mobility
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.9 No.2,
February
26,
2019
ABSTRACT:
Most of the urban Indian cities face challenges of
traffic congestion and severe air pollution due to rapid urbanization and
growth in automobiles. As a result, there is a potential need for adopting
alternative technologies in automobiles such as electric vehicles (EV). The
focus of this study is to explore various influencers of purchase intention of
EVs in India by proposing a framework based on utility theory that integrates
economic and psychological perspectives. Data for this study was collected from
a sample of 228 respondents using the mall intercept method in India. This
study used confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS version 25 to examine the role
of performance features, financial benefits, environmental concerns, social
influence, cost of ownership and infrastructure support on purchase intention
of Indian consumers towards EVs. The study revealed environmental concern and
performance features as most important factors influencing Indian consumers’
consumption behavior towards EVs. Presently, two factors-cost of ownership and
infrastructure support were not imperative for the adoption of Evs to Indians.
As environmental concern was the most important factor for Indian consumers,
therefore, it is pertinent for car manufacturers and policymaker to highlight
the environmental benefits of e-Mobility.