To fulfil global climate goals, the market share of electric vehicles (EVs) has to importantly increase. Social influence has been confirmed to play an important role on EV adoption decisions. However, social norm interventions have not been proven to motivate EV preferences. The goal of this research is to contribute to this literature. Namely, it aims to answer the question if social norms salience can increase EV purchase willingness of Swiss customers. To achieve that, an online experiment was conducted, exposing respondents to four normative messages related to EV adoption. Namely, the interventions combined descriptive dynamic and injunctive messaging, focusing on the growth of EV, decline of ICE sales in Switzerland and the growth of the use of #SUVShame on social media. The results show that overall, social norms have only a limited effect on EV preferences. However, respondents who find the communicated message credible and like #SUVShame express a significantly larger EV purchase willingness than the control group and the respondents who do not believe or do not like the communicated message. Adverse effects have been however also observed. Respondents who do not believe the dynamic descriptive norm on EV sales demonstrate a significantly lower EV purchase willingness than the control group. The research delivers important findings for both academia and practice, contributing to the current scientific discussion and proposing recommendations for policy makers how promote EV adoption in Switzerland.

Jana Plananska

8 Dec 2020