Understanding the attitude-action gap: functional integration of environmental aspects in car purchase intentions

Autor: Mairesse, Olivier, Macharis, Cathy, Lebeau, Kenneth, Turcksin, Laurence
Přispěvatelé: Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Information Systems for Management, Electromobility research centre
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2012
Předmět:
Popis: This study aims at understanding how a general positive attitude towards the environment results in a limited purchase of environmentally friendlier cars, often referred to as the attitude-action gap. In a first experiment 27 volunteers performed a judgment task on car purchase intention. Participants were asked to evaluate the probability of buying cars varying in purchase price, environmental performance, operating cost and vehicle quality. A second experiment required 47 participants to express purchase intention of vehicles varying in driving 'experience', environmental aspects, Life Cycle Costs and vehicle quality. Results in both experiments show that participants integrate car attribute information according to a differential weighting averaging rule. Model weight and scale values show to be indicative of a positive attitude towards environmental performance. On the other hand, the empirically established model weights consistently indicate that environmental performance is outweighed by other car attributes. Conceptually, the averaging integration model provides an explanation about the psychology of the attitude-action gap. Implications for policy making are discussed.
Databáze: OpenAIRE