A Typology of Attitudes towards the E-Bike against the Background of the Traditional Bicycle and the Car

Jadwiga Biegańska, Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska and Michał Adam Kwiatkowski
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Jadwiga Biegańska: Department of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Elżbieta Grzelak-Kostulska: Department of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland
Michał Adam Kwiatkowski: Department of Urban and Regional Development Studies, Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87-100 Toruń, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-21

Abstract: Although it is generally accepted that innovators and early adopters have a particular influence on the uptake of electric bikes, other groups, whose reactions to innovation have not been studied, are perhaps wrongly marginalised. Such individuals, often relying on stereotypes, also need to be included in researchers’ scope of interest. Therefore, the aim of the CAWI survey was to determine the attitudes of respondents, both users and non-users of electric bikes, and on this basis to classify by k-means analysis the attitudes towards the e-bike compared to the traditional bicycle and the car. The results obtained show a large variation between the designated classes. What most of them have in common is a strong attachment to the private car, which is typical for the cycling culture of this part of Europe, but the psycho-physical characteristics of the surveyed remain the strongest differentiating factor. Therefore, in the light of the opinions collected, it seems that the group Gadget lovers 1 and 2, whose share was about one-quarter of the total number surveyed, may be the most inclined to change their transport behaviour. This means that the e-bike, as an innovation, can overcome a critical discontinuity stage on the innovation diffusion curve in the Innovation Adaptation Lifecycle (IAL).

Keywords: e-bike; bicycle; cycling culture; cyclist typology; Poland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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