Purchase intention for electric vehicles in China from a customer-value perspective

Vehicle exhaust emissions are a major contributor to the creation of smog in big cities in China. Hence, the manufacture of electric vehicles (EVs) has become an emerging industry, and receives special attention from the Chinese government for its great advantages of lack of pollution and energy efficiency. However, Chinese people have been very reluctant topurchase EVs. In this study, I recruited a sample of 454 participants and explored which factors affect customers’ purchase intention for EVs. Results revealed that customers pay more attention to the environmental value of EVs but have fears related to electricity leakage, explosions, or radiation exposure from batteries. These findings indicate that the Chinese government’s support for EVs is still not sufficient, and that government promotion of a low-carbon lifestyle must be enhanced.