Consumer car preferences and information search channels

Abstract

In this paper, we measure the relations between stated and revealed car preferences and the use of information sources in the car-purchasing process, based on a survey of households in the Netherlands. The analysis showed that attitudinal and behavioral constructs are found for 'environmental', 'performance', and 'convenience' preferences, but that there is a 'gap' between attitude and behavior. The results show that people with a positive environmental attitude who also show environmentally friendly behavior have more involvement with cars than people who do not translate their environmental attitude into the corresponding behavior. This leads to the idea that not only environmental knowledge but also involvement with cars is a prerequisite for buying an environmentally friendly car.

Private household demand for vehicles on alternative fuels and drive trains: a review

“…Within the surveys, there is a predominance of measuring the attitudes towards hydrogen [2,66,74,86] and biofuel vehicles [69,89,91]. Overall, the general concern about environmental issues is found to be high (general positive environmental attitudes), but very often, this is not translated into changes in purchasing behaviour [2,66,74,94]. This discrepancy between environmental attitudes and ecological behaviour is known as the attitude-action gap [56].…”

“…Prior levels of AFV knowledge and hence awareness are found to be associated with sociodemographic (e.g., gender, age) and personal characteristics (e.g., education) [66,86], environmental knowledge [35,66,86,94], pro-environmental attitudes [35,86], cultural dispositions [2], product involvement [66,94], direct experience (e.g., in terms of practical experiences and demonstrations) and familiarity with AFVs [74,94].…”

“…Audiences are found to behave differently and require information to be differentiated according to the interests and knowledge levels, socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes and cultural dispositions of the specific target audience [2,74,91,94]. Performance attitudes are found to be positively related to information search [94], whereas people with environmental attitudes are less affected by information provision [91,94]. In this respect, tailored information which focuses on the new technical developments that improve environmental performance while maintaining car performance might for example help to enhance the support for AFVs [94].…”

“…Performance attitudes are found to be positively related to information search [94], whereas people with environmental attitudes are less affected by information provision [91,94]. In this respect, tailored information which focuses on the new technical developments that improve environmental performance while maintaining car performance might for example help to enhance the support for AFVs [94].…”

“…Van Rijnsoever et al [94] Identification of types of attitudes and behaviours related to product involvement and use of search channels.…”