Demand Drivers in the Emerging Market for Low Emission Vehicles in Scotland

Moving towards a more sustainable transport system within Scotland has been a primary objective of the Scottish Government for a considerable length of time. Specifically looking at the high dependence on private vehicle use, the associated problems of road accidents, urban pollution, congestion and energy security are clearly evident. Whilst attempting to reduce this private vehicle dependency is a worthy endeavour, it is likely that the majority of passenger trips will be conducted in private vehicles for the foreseeable future. Rather than focusing on changing the quantity of transport demand satisfied by passenger vehicle use, it may prove fruitful to consider changing the type of private vehicle consumers operate. Low Emission Vehicles (LEVs) have been developed to address some of these outlined problems and are ready to be introduced into the mainstream automotive market. How successful they are at reducing these problems will be dependent on consumer reaction to and adoption of these LEVs.
Traditionally, demand for a vehicle has been estimated using formally rational decision making models where consumers are represented as self interested utility maximizers basing their decision primarily on the price and specification of the vehicles. Whilst this approach has considerable merit, it is clear that consumers take into consideration other factors when deciding what car to purchase. To account for this, we aim to augment the traditional perspective by employing a dual framework approach. Firstly, we apply a model developed on the principles put forward in the Diffusion of Innovation Theory to address the predictive nature of this research. Secondly, we have developed a 3 construct framework which includes functional, symbolic and emotive vehicle characteristics to observe what influence these have over LEV preference formation. Results will be presented at this conference from an initial distribution of 1996 household self completion questionnaires that were distributed in Dundee city.