The role of instrumental, hedonic and symbolic attributes in the intention to adopt electric vehicles

Schuitema, Geertje; Anable, Jillian; Skippon, Stephen; Kinnear, Neale · 2012 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2012.10.004

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Summary

This study investigates how private car drivers’ perceptions of instrumental, hedonic, and symbolic attributes influence their intention to adopt electric vehicles (EVs), specifically battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Motivated by the need to understand consumer adoption barriers for climate-change abatement strategies, the research addresses the gap in literature regarding the relative importance of emotional (hedonic) and identity-based (symbolic) factors compared to functional (instrumental) factors. The authors hypothesize that instrumental attributes influence adoption intentions primarily through their effect on hedonic and symbolic perceptions, and that self-identity moderates these perceptions. Data were collected via a two-wave online survey of 2,728 UK participants who had purchased a new or nearly new car within the previous five years. Participants provided background information and then evaluated PHEVs and BEVs as potential main or second household cars. The study measured perceived instrumental attributes (e.g., range, cost), hedonic attributes (pleasure of driving), and symbolic attributes (identity expression) using Likert scales. It also assessed pro-environmental identity and car-authority identity. Statistical analyses included repeated measures ANOVA to compare adoption intentions and multiple mediation models using bootstrapping to test the indirect effects of hedonic and symbolic attributes. The results indicate that participants had significantly higher intentions to adopt PHEVs than BEVs, and stronger intentions to adopt EVs as main cars rather than second cars. PHEVs were perceived more positively than BEVs across all attribute types. Crucially, the analysis confirmed that hedonic and symbolic attributes mediate the relationship between instrumental attributes and adoption intention. For PHEVs as second cars, this mediation was full; for all other scenarios, it was partial. This suggests instrumental attributes drive adoption largely because they shape emotional responses and social identity. Regarding self-identity, pro-environmental identity was strongly and positively correlated with positive perceptions of all EV attributes. In contrast, car-authority identity showed only weak, often non-significant correlations with perceived attributes. The study concludes that EV adoption is not driven solely by functional utility but is significantly mediated by the pleasure of driving and the symbolic identity associated with ownership. The lower adoption intention for BEVs is attributed to their limited instrumental attributes, which negatively impact hedonic and symbolic perceptions. Furthermore, the finding that car-authority figures are not strongly convinced by EV attributes suggests that key opinion leaders may not yet support EV adoption, potentially hindering market growth. These findings imply that marketing strategies should emphasize the hedonic and symbolic benefits of EVs, particularly for PHEVs, and address the identity alignment of potential buyers.

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