Factors Influencing Consumers' Willingness to Purchase New Energy Vehicles in China: The Roles of Policy Incentives, Media Richness, and Consumer Perceptions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29284/1cz2zf60Keywords:
New Energy Vehicles; Policy Incentives; Media Richness; Consumer Perception; Purchase Intention; Structural Equation ModelingAbstract
This study explores the mechanisms influencing consumers' willingness to purchase and adopt new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China, focusing on the roles of policy incentives, media richness, and consumer perceptions. The research adopts a quantitative approach, relying solely on questionnaire surveys and structural equation modeling (SEM). A total of 495 valid questionnaires were collected from consumers in Hunan Province, China, and analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS software. The study reveals that government policy incentives, including production subsidies, purchase/use policies, and recycling policies, significantly impact consumers' perceived usefulness (economic benefits and respect for demand) and perceived ease of use (NEV performance and infrastructure) of NEVs. Media richness, categorized into low, medium, and high, plays a pivotal role in shaping consumer perceptions of NEVs' functional attributes, such as electrification (range, charging efficiency) and intelligent features (vehicle networking, autonomous driving). Quantitative analysis confirms that medium-richness media has the strongest positive impact on perceived functional attributes, while high-richness media is effective in conveying complex information about autonomous driving and vehicle networking. The study also highlights the moderating effects of brand familiarity and sense of control on the relationship between media richness and adoption intention. Specifically, brand familiarity weakens the impact of low and high-richness media on adoption intention, while internally controlled consumers are less influenced by high-richness media, and externally controlled consumers are more responsive to low and medium-richness media. Additionally, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, range and charging convenience, and functional attributes all have significant positive impacts on consumers' purchase intention.
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