Influence of Demographics on Consumer Preferences for Alternative Fuel Vehicles: A Review of Choice Modelling Studies and a Study in Portugal

Gabriela D. Oliveira and Luis Dias
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Gabriela D. Oliveira: DEM—Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Coimbra, Coimbra 3030-788, Portugal

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-33

Abstract: The significant energy consumed by road transportation and the difficult market penetration of Alternative Fuel Vehicles (AFVs) has led to a substantial body of research aiming to understand consumer preferences and future demand for AFVs. The individual characteristics of consumers are one of the explanatory factors of these preferences. In this context, the main purpose of this work is to present a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of how consumer demographics influence their preferences concerning AFVs. This review focuses on papers that applied Choice Modelling techniques to elicit individual consumer preferences for AFVs through stated preference surveys. Age, gender, income, level of education, family size, driving habits and number of vehicles per household were selected for analysis. This study also adds to the literature by analyzing the influence of demographic characteristics on preferences of Portuguese consumers. Very few studies addressed the influence of demographics on preferences for vehicle attributes. Considering the influence of consumers’ income and age, no consistent results were found. However, when age and consumers’ nationality were crossed, a potential trend of consumers’ age influence was unveiled. Regarding gender, level of education and family size, it was observed that consumers with higher education levels, women and consumers with larger families have higher preferences for AFVs.

Keywords: consumer preferences; alternative fuel vehicles; electric vehicles; choice modelling; demographic influence; literature review (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: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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