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The role of emotional coherence in electric vehicle purchasing decisions

The role of emotional coherence in electric vehicle purchasing decisions
The role of emotional coherence in electric vehicle purchasing decisions
Cognitive consistency theories offer a solid background to understand the effects of latent psychological constructs in decision-making. These theories model decision-making as the product of a dynamic and recursive process in which individual elements are evaluated toward a decision and this emerging decision returns to its individual elements. In this study, we use the Hot Coherence (HOTCO) cognitive consistency theory to analyse the choice between electric, hybrid-electric, and petrol vehicles. We apply the model to a sample of respondents from England households with one or more cars. The HOTCO model offers a more nuanced representation of the decision-making process – compared with traditional attitude-behaviour link theories – by incorporating non-linear and multidimensional interactions between its components. Our results suggest that positive attitudes and emotional appraisals for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles are shaped by similar motivators, and respondents perceive them as capable of satisfying the same set of needs. In addition, environmental awareness and pro-innovative orientation are the two motives that generate the greater differences in attitudinal evaluations of petrol vehicles, compared with alternative fuels.
Emotional coherenceAlternative fuel vehiclesElectric vehiclesAttitude-behaviour link, Emotional coherence, Electric vehicles, Attitude-behaviour link, Alternative fuel vehicles
1369-8478
997-1014
Domarchi, Cristian
12770dd9-ec99-4d57-acfc-4ca745b63f07
Vuong, Quoc C.
9c3e8507-5762-4e63-9338-2bc5541cb253
Cherchi, Elisabetta
0d564532-eaaf-459d-a2eb-7cdc76737f5b
Domarchi, Cristian
12770dd9-ec99-4d57-acfc-4ca745b63f07
Vuong, Quoc C.
9c3e8507-5762-4e63-9338-2bc5541cb253
Cherchi, Elisabetta
0d564532-eaaf-459d-a2eb-7cdc76737f5b

Domarchi, Cristian, Vuong, Quoc C. and Cherchi, Elisabetta (2024) The role of emotional coherence in electric vehicle purchasing decisions. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 107, 997-1014. (doi:10.1016/j.trf.2024.10.018).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Cognitive consistency theories offer a solid background to understand the effects of latent psychological constructs in decision-making. These theories model decision-making as the product of a dynamic and recursive process in which individual elements are evaluated toward a decision and this emerging decision returns to its individual elements. In this study, we use the Hot Coherence (HOTCO) cognitive consistency theory to analyse the choice between electric, hybrid-electric, and petrol vehicles. We apply the model to a sample of respondents from England households with one or more cars. The HOTCO model offers a more nuanced representation of the decision-making process – compared with traditional attitude-behaviour link theories – by incorporating non-linear and multidimensional interactions between its components. Our results suggest that positive attitudes and emotional appraisals for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles are shaped by similar motivators, and respondents perceive them as capable of satisfying the same set of needs. In addition, environmental awareness and pro-innovative orientation are the two motives that generate the greater differences in attitudinal evaluations of petrol vehicles, compared with alternative fuels.

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Accepted/In Press date: 22 October 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 November 2024
Published date: 1 November 2024
Keywords: Emotional coherenceAlternative fuel vehiclesElectric vehiclesAttitude-behaviour link, Emotional coherence, Electric vehicles, Attitude-behaviour link, Alternative fuel vehicles

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 496067
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/496067
ISSN: 1369-8478
PURE UUID: a79bf288-9f4b-4974-9149-cb7944db55ae
ORCID for Cristian Domarchi: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9068-704X

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Date deposited: 02 Dec 2024 17:48
Last modified: 03 Dec 2024 03:09

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Contributors

Author: Cristian Domarchi ORCID iD
Author: Quoc C. Vuong
Author: Elisabetta Cherchi

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