FACTORS IMPACTING CONSUMER INTENTION TO

PURCHASE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE BANGKOK

MOHAMMADREZA KHALEGHIYARAZIZ

A THEMATIC PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF MANAGEMENT
COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT
MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY
2021

COPYRIGHT OF MAHIDOL UNIVERSITY

 Thematic paper
entitled
FACTORS IMPACTING CONSUMER INTENTION TO
PURCHASE ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE BANGKOK
was submitted to the College of Management, Mahidol University
for the degree of Master of Management
on
September 11, 2021

..............................................................
Mr. Mohammadreza Khaleghiyaraziz
Candidate

.............................................................. ..............................................................
Assoc. Prof. Randall M.Shannon, Assist. Prof. Astrid Kainzbauer,
Ph.D. Ph.D.
Advisor Chairperson

.............................................................. ..............................................................
Assoc. Prof. Vichita Ractham, Assoc. Prof. Pornkasem Kantamara,
Ph.D. Ph.D.
Dean Committee member
College of Management
Mahidol University
 ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thematic paper became a complete document with the support and help
of many people. I would thank the following people, without whom I would not have
been able to complete this research, and without whom I would not have made it through
my master’s degree!

I would like to say a special thank you for my advisor, Assoc. Prof. Randall
Shannon, Ph.D. his support, guidance, and overall insights in this field have made this
an inspiring experience for me.

With many thanks to my colleagues at Essom company, who have supported

me and had to put up with my stresses and moans for the past three years of study!

And my biggest thanks to my family and dear friends for all the support you
have shown me through this research.

Mohammadreza Khaleghiyaraziz
 iii

FACTORS IMPACTING CONSUMER INTENTION TO PURCHASE

ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN THE BANGKOK

MOHAMMADREZA KHALEGHIYARAZIZ 6249803

M.M. (MARKETING AND MANAGEMENT)

THEMATIC PAPER ADVISORY COMMITTEE: ASSOC. PROF. RANDALL

SHANNON, Ph.D., ASSOC. PROF. ASTRID KAINZBAUER, Ph.D., ASST. PROF.
PORNKASEM KANTAMARA, Ed.D.

ABSTRACT
This study aims to investigate the determinants that influence individuals’
intention to purchase electric vehicles (EVs), through the development of a research
model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, integrated with performance factors,
environmental factors, financial factors, infrastructure factors and intention to buy
electric vehicles (EVs) in Bangkok. Data were collected from 125 car users across
Bangkok metropolitan city. The findings in this research reveal that only performance
factors (e.g., battery life, driving range, charging time, new technology) and financial
cost fear (resale market, operating and maintenance cost) have significant relation to
Bangkokian intention to purchase electric vehicles. Whilst not being concerned much
with the environmental factors and the financial factors (incentive policies) of electrical
vehicles.

KEY WORDS: intentions to purchase/ electric vehicles/ financial cost fear/

performance factors/ Bangkok.

34 pages
 iv

CONTENTS

Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF FIGURES v
LIST OF TABLES vi
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW & FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT 5
2.1 Theoretical study 5
2.2 Performance factors 7
2.3 Environmental factors 7
2.4 Financial factors 8
2.5 Infrastructure factors 9
2.6 Research model and hypotheses 9
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 11
3.1 Sample and data collection 11
3.2 Respondent profiles 11
3.3 Measures 12
CHAPTER IV FINDING / RESULTS 13
4.1 Results of the Principal Component Analysis 13
4.2 Common Method Variance—Harman’s Single Factor Test 14
4.3 Correlation analysis and normality 15
4.4 Compare means analysis 16
4.5 Regression analysis 16
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 19
5.1 Future research directions 21
REFERENCES 23
APPENDICES 33
BIOGRAPHY 34
 v

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page
1 The framework of TBP 2
2 Research framework 25
3 Mean score analysis 16
4 Normal P-P plot and scatter plot 17
 vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page
1 Respondents’ profile 12
2 Rotated component matrix 13
3 Total variance explained 14
4 Inter-construct correlations 15
5 Descriptive statistic and correlation of variables in the analysis 17
6 Structural results 18
 1

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

The issue of environmental degradation has gained much importance in

recent years, because of ongoing and out of control emissions of dangerous atmosphere
pollutants through a variety of human activities. Fossil fuel consumption by the
industries as well as the transport system is considered the main reason. Different studies
have paid considerable attention to the pollution caused by the vehicles, while it has
been widely analysed because of its serious environmental outcomes. The global
increase in the ownership of individual vehicles has been accompanied with
considerable energy consumption, contributing to the production of more greenhouse
gases (Ma, Fan et al. 2019) and leading to serious problems regarding energy security
and environmental conservation (Huang and Ge 2019). Statistics of the International
Energy Agency indicates, an estimated number of one million vehicles are recently used
worldwide, with a daily consumption of around 60 million barrels a day (about 70 % of
the total oil production); next to 36 million barrels of daily oil consumption is associated
with private vehicles, guiding to emission of 14 million tons of carbon dioxide (Sang
and Bekhet 2015). Consequently, the replacement of conventional vehicles with
renewable energy vehicles may be considered as a promising solution (Tu and Yang
2019). In this regard, electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to reduce the negative effects
on the environment and help to conserve the rare non-renewable fuel reserves across the
whole cycle of life (Liu, Ouyang et al. 2019). EVs are considered as effective
alternatives to maintain urban transportation through the reduction of oil dependence
and subsequent air pollution, leading to significant health as well as environmental
advantages (Wu, Liao et al. 2019). Past studies have indicated that EVs can lead to a
30e50 % reduction of carbon dioxide emission and 40e60 % increase in fuel efficiency
in comparison with conventional vehicles which are dependent on fuels (Liu, Ouyang
et al. 2019).
Deployment of EVs has been the centre of attention by setting targets and
applying policies, making it attainable for the EVs to become a vital component of the
 2

future vehicles (Buekers, Van Holderbeke et al. 2014). Currently, there has been an
increase in the registration of EVs around the world from 6000 in 2010e750,000 in 2016,
and the plug-in passenger vehicles stock are estimated to reach 150 million by 2030
(Cazzola, Gorner et al. 2016).
Promoting EVs will help achieve the carbon reduction targets of the Paris
Agreement while effectively reducing urban air and noise pollution (IEA, 2017). Several
countries are strongly promoting the production and adoption of EVs. As the world's
largest consumer market for EVs, China's results in promoting EVs are particularly
outstanding. By the end of June 2018, China's EV ownership ranked first in the world
reaching 1.99 million units (MOPS, 2018) (Ma, Fan et al. 2019).
Thailand is the eleventh largest car manufacturing country in the world and
is a centre for pick-up truck and small car production for both domestic and global
markets (Organisation Internationale des Constructer’s automobiles, 2019). However,
the steady increase in car usage in Thailand has resulted in problems such as traffic jam
in major cities (e.g., the Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket). The rapid growth of cars
not only increases Thailand’s reliance on imported oil, but also poses a serious problem
from air pollution caused by car fumes and carbon emissions (Thananusak, Rakthin et
al. 2017).
The interest in EVs in Thailand has greatly increased following the
modification in policy direction of the Thai government. In 2015, the Thai government
regulate a new national economic strategy, Thailand 4.0, which aimed to develop a new
economic growth engine for Thailand via innovative industries. One of the targeted
industries was the EVs industry. The government created a 20-year EV roadmap and
national energy policy (2016–2036) and set the target that Thailand should have 1.2
million EVs by 2036. The goal was to foster the EV industry and become the hub of EV
production in the ASEAN region as well as reducing energy intensity by 30% by 2036.
Moreover, in 2017, the Thailand Board of Investment issued new incentives to attract
investment in EVs and boost EV demand in the country. For instance, there will be 0%
tariff on both EV machinery and completely-built-unit imported EVs in order that car
companies can test the market demand before setting up a large-scale manufacturing
facility. The companies investing in EVs will receive corporate tax exemptions of up to
 3

10 years. The excise tax for EVs is also reduced to lower the purchase price for car
buyers (Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017).
Despite the establishment of these EV policies and incentives, the Thai EV
adoption target seems overly ambitious. At the end of 2016, the number of EVs in
Thailand reached only 0.19% of the total number of vehicles (70,000 EVs out of 37.3
million cars that were registered with the Department of Land Transportation (Thailand
Development Research Institute, 2016). This EV number reflects the global trend where
EV represents around 1% of the current number of used vehicles (International Energy
Agency, 2017). Although past research has shown that many factors (e.g., performance,
costs of ownership, infrastructure of EVs) could affect customers’ intentions to adopt
EVs, different settings and various customers’ perceptions on EVs in each country are
found to differentially affect their adoption (Chanaron and Teske 2007, Egbue and Long
2012). Thus, the study of the factors affecting EV adoption in Thailand could potentially
shed light on another angle of EV adoption (Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017).
A research results in Bangkok state the factors that will affect the consumer
to purchasing electric vehicle such as product appearance, the quality of material,
notable of brand, price, worthiness, service centre, marketing promotion, after sale
service, research and development, quality of battery, complexity, charger station, and
risk of battery, consumer behaviour, and government support policy. Additionally,
demographic and lifestyle factors that affecting the decision to purchasing electric
vehicle (Dolcharumanee 2019).
Results of another study in Spain state that, most of the papers are focussed
on the operations or the impact on the grid, while only a few papers address the design
of EV charging stations (Domínguez-Navarro, Dufo-López et al. 2019).
one of the most important problems in EV development is the shortage of
charging infrastructure. Drivers can charge their EVs at home, but the charge time is
quite long. To promote the EV development, it is necessary to install fast-charging
station in which the EV battery can be charged in about 15 minutes. By contrast, the
disadvantage of fast charging is the high-power demand and its impact on the grid. In
order to address this, renewable sources and storage systems can be installed in these
stations (Domínguez-Navarro, Dufo-López et al. 2019).
 4

Results of a study in Malaysia state that, electrified vehicles are still in the
early stage of adoption, and technology acceptance is not as notable as represented in
other developed countries such as the United States and Europe. The infrastructures and
facilities of these electrified vehicles are still not entirely developed to be easily
accessible in different areas within the country. The access towards charging
infrastructures and facilities is still limited to certain metropolitan areas. Commercial-
wise, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are available in limited numbers, and their prices
are well beyond the reach of the mass consumers in the country.
How to make consumers pay attention to, accept, purchase, and use EVs is
an important topic for governments and manufacturers. To address this topic, it is
necessary to study consumer preferences for EVs, which includes identifying the
various factors that influence consumers’ choices of EVs. The research discusses the
background of the principal subject of the research: factors impacting consumer
intention to purchase electric vehicle (EV) in the Bangkok’s population, Thailand. Most
of existing studies have found the factors such as environmental factors, incentives
policies from government, performance factors, infrastructure, financial performance,
and lifestyle factors.
In this paper, a research model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour
(Subjective norms, attitude, and perceived behavioural control), which is integrated with
performance, environmental, financial and infrastructure factors was applied to examine
the factors impacting consumer intention to purchase electric vehicles in the Bangkok.
this research needs to be developed further in future due to limitations of time, budget,
and scope of sampling of Bangkokian, eventually need to state that this information is
useful for academic usage however may it be useful for the government to formulate
corresponding public policies to promote EV promotion, and manufactures can
determine the direction of their production and investment to promote EV sales.
 5

CHAPTER II
2. LITERATURE REVIEW & FRAMEWORK DEVELOPMENT

2.1 Theoretical study

Social psychology studies have shown that intention is a good indicator for
predicting individual behaviour because it includes all the relevant factors that may
affect an individual’s actual behaviour (Ajzen 1991). The TPB has strong explanatory
power for individual intention and behaviour. The TPB is the successor to the theory of
reasoned action (TRA). The TRA suggests that attitude and subjective norms are the
driving factors affecting behavioural intention (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Behavioural
intention is a direct psychological determinant of actual behaviour. Attitude is an
individual’s overall evaluation of participating in a specific behaviour, and the
subjective norm is the perception of social pressure from significant referents. However
behavioural intention and behaviour do not depend entirely on attitude and subjective
norms. For example, when a consumer wants to buy an EV, the actual purchase
behaviour depends not only on the consumer’s attitude towards the purchasing
behaviour of EVs and the influence of important people around him but also on the
degree of ease or difficulty perceived by the consumer regarding the behaviours of
purchasing EVs. Therefore, to improve the interpretive power of the TRA, Ajzen (1985)
introduced the perceived behavioural control variable. In the TPB, attitude, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioural control can directly influence behavioural intentions
and indirectly affect behaviours through behavioural intentions (Fig. 1). Because of its
strong explanatory power, the TPB has been widely adopted to investigate
environmentally friendly intention and behaviour, such as pollution reduction
intentions, household energy-saving intention and behaviour, green product purchase
intentions; and environmental protection intention and behaviour (Huang and Ge 2019).
 6

Fig.1 The framework of TBP.

The process of EVs adoption may involve evaluations and perspectives,

both in positive and negative views of adopting the environment-friendly behaviour,
whether to adopt or decline. Result of a study indicated that attitude exhibits a significant
influence towards environment-friendly cars (Schmalfuß, Mühl et al. 2017). In contrast,
the authors of other studies found that the pricing factor of vehicles, which are
categorized as expensive or affordable price, leads to the withdrawal or positive attitude
towards purchasing the vehicles (Schmalfuß, Mühl et al. 2017, Thananusak, Rakthin et
al. 2017). Hence, the divergence of the influence of attitude towards behavioural
intention to purchase hybrid cars, as mentioned previously, leads to further investigation
to be carried out concerning that matter.
In the context of the intention to purchase EVs, perceived behavioural
control deals with whether the individuals are perceived as capable of purchasing EVs,
specifically their financial capacity, as well as the availability of other external resources
(e.g., government tax exemption and purchasing rebate). The authors of (Schmalfuß,
Mühl et al. 2017) clarify that the influence of perceived behavioural control towards
behavioural intention may be less significant if people have negative perspectives about
Eves, such as certain features of EVs that may fall below their expectation or preference.
 7

2.2 Performance factors

Result of study indicated that for deployment of EVSs, the preferences that
are looked at by car users are important and may determine their attitude towards the
behaviour (Tanwir and Hamzah 2020). One of the key performance factors of EVs is
the driving range (She, Sun et al. 2017). Technology enthusiasts tend to adopt new
technology when they see a higher performance of EVs compared with conventional
vehicles. From various surveys, customers tend to be most concerned with the longest
range that EVs can drive on one charge EV car buyers are also concerned with charging
time (Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017, Dolcharumanee 2019, Huang and Ge 2019, Ma,
Fan et al. 2019, Tu and Yang 2019). To fully charge an EV battery at home, car owners
normally need an overnight charge. Research has suggested that customers are willing
to pay more for extra features, increased functionality of EVs and convenience. Thus,
the long charging time presents another performance factor to EV purchase. Related to
the issue of range, EV customers may experience range anxiety and may not feel safe
when they need to drive EVs for a long distance away from the charging facilities
(Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017, Dolcharumanee 2019, Huang and Ge 2019). In
summary, performance factors related to the EV purchase lie in the driving range,
charging time, and safety and reliability concerns. Without direct experience of EVs,
car buyers may be uncertain about the performance, stability, and safety of EVs (Jensen,
Cherchi et al. 2013, Heyvaert, Coosemans et al. 2015).

2.3 Environmental factors

Past studies have shown that the environmental concerns of car buyers have
a positive effect on the intention to buy EVs (Jensen, Cherchi et al. 2013, Heyvaert,
Coosemans et al. 2015). Literature in past study in Thailand found that the
environmental concern is significantly correlated with the intention to buy EVs
(Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017). Another study result in Malaysia indicates that
environmental knowledge plays a vital role in influencing individuals’ intention to
purchase a hybrid car (Tanwir and Hamzah 2020). In many studies, environmental
concerns are assessed as an indicator to influence people’s behavioural intention in the
context of pro-environmental studies (Suki 2016, Mohiuddin, Al Mamun et al. 2018).
 8

2.4 Financial factors

One of the major obstacles contributing to the consumers’ withdrawal from
purchasing EVs is their high prices (Lin and Wu 2018). Other literature indicate that the
purchase price has a significant association with EVs adoption (Barth, Jugert et al.
2016). However, at another literature result finds that Thai consumers are willing to pay
a price-premium for EVs (Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017).
The cost of EV ownership also is another financial factor that car buyers
consider. Since EVs are not widely adopted and not many people have experienced
them, people may not be able to correctly calculate the cost of ownership (e.g., operating
and maintenance costs). Apart from the purchase price, cost of ownership, and resale
price, the perceived trend of oil prices as well as the relatively cheap and improved fuel
efficiency of conventional vehicles also affect the financial factors of EVs. Past research
suggests that the expectation is that oil prices would rise and the future fuel savings from
buying EVs could motivate customers to adopt EVs. Moreover, companies have made
their cars more energy efficient (e.g., Ford Ecoboost engine; Mazda Sky Active
Technology; Honda Earth Dream Technology). Thus, the difference from the expected
fuel savings between EVs and conventional vehicles has become lower and, in turn,
makes EV adoption a lesser priority for car buyers (Rezvani, Jansson et al. 2015).
Another related issue financial factor is incentive policy. Incentive policy
measures are important factors that influence consumers’ purchase intention. To
promote the development of EVs, many countries have introduced incentive policy
measures for EVs. Studies have shown that the main policies that have a positive impact
on consumers’ EV purchase intention include purchase subsidies, parking fee
reductions, related tax incentives and driving privileges (Hackbarth and Madlener 2013,
Helveston, Liu et al. 2015, Sang and Bekhet 2015). Study result in china show that
Monetary and Non-monetary incentive policy measures have a significant positive
effect on EV purchase intention (Huang and Ge 2019).
Another conducted research on the influence of incentives on the adoption
and sale of EVs, indicating the positive influence of them on the consumers’ decision
toward EVs adoption (Lin and Wu 2018).
 9

2.5 Infrastructure factors

The infrastructure factor of EV adoption includes the number of charging
infrastructure points and charging conditions. At present, there are still limited public
charging facilities and charging stations compared with gas stations for conventional
vehicles. Several studies have confirmed that the unavailability of enough charging
infrastructure is a major constraint for EV diffusion (Sierzchula, Bakker et al. 2014,
Chen, Liu et al. 2017, Berkeley, Jarvis et al. 2018). Result of literature in Taiwan
indicate that consumers believe that the number of charging piles for electric vehicles
will affect their purchase intention (Tu and Yang 2019). Unlike EV enthusiasts,
conventional car users tend to focus more on the convenience factor (i.e., the availability
of EV charging stations within their living or working areas and on the highways) (Lane
and Potter 2007, Nayum, Klöckner et al. 2016). Thus, governments are recommended
to provide and support the charging infrastructure to promote private adoption of EVs
(Delang and Cheng 2013, Lim, Mak et al. 2015). In other research confirmed about the
stronger consumers’ purchase intention because of availability of Product attribute like
charging infrastructure, the stronger consumers’ purchase intention (Huang and Ge
2019).
Unlike other research, result of a study show that the infrastructure is not
significantly related to the intention to buy EVs in Thailand (Thananusak, Rakthin et al.
2017).

2.6 Research model and hypotheses

According to (Rejikumar 2016), a research hypothesis can be defined as a
“logically conjectured relationship between two or more variables expressed in the form
of a testable statement”. Therefore, in this study, seven variables were developed to be
tested based on the literature of previous studies. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual
model proposed for this study, which was developed based on the underpinning of the
Theory of Planned Behaviour by, with an additional variable. The hypotheses of this
study are shown below:
In this paper, a research model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour
(Subjective norms, attitude, and perceived behavioural control), which is integrated with
 10

performance, environmental, financial and infrastructure factors was applied to examine

the factors impacting consumer intention to purchase electric vehicles in the Bangkok.
Fig 2 illustrates the conceptual model proposed for this study, which was developed
based on the underpinning of the Theory of Planned Behaviour by (Ajzen 1991), with
an additional variable from past studies (Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017, He, Zhan et
al. 2018, Huang and Ge 2019, Tu and Yang 2019, Tanwir and Hamzah 2020, Asadi,
Nilashi et al. 2021).

Fig 2. Research framework.

 11

CHAPTER III
3. METHODOLOGY

3.1 Sample and data collection

Consistent with the previous studies examining consumers’ intention to buy
EVs, an online survey provides the data for this study. To test a proposed model
framework, the questionnaire was developed and distributed randomly via a web-based
survey.
The respondents are Thai and foreigners’ adults who live in Bangkok. The
respondents own a conventional vehicle or owned in past, or who are currently own an
EV or considering purchasing an EV in future.
The screening conditions are in two level and examine people who living in
Bangkok and have been owned or own a car. Totally collected 125 valid responses out
of the 190 received.

3.2 Respondent profiles

The demographics of the respondents were as follows: 50.4% male and
49.6% female. Respondents were within the following age groups: 20–30 (34.4%), 31–
40 (40%), 41–50 (18.4%) and over 50 years old (7.2%). Of the respondents, 26.4%
identified as public company employees, 47.2% private company employees, 21.6%
business owners and 4.8% students. 54.4% of the respondents held master’s degrees or
higher, 37.6% Bachelor’s degree and 8% college graduated. The respondent’s monthly
income ranged as follows: less than 10,000-20,000 Baht, 8%, 20,001–40,000 Baht, 24%,
40,001–60,000 Baht, 30.4%, 60,001–80,000 Baht, 13.6%, 80,001–100,000 Baht, 8%,
and more than 100,000 Baht, 16%. Details of demographic characteristics of
respondents are presented in Table 1.
 12

3.3 Measures
In general, most of the key variables in this study are using linear scales (5
scales). The item rating of measures was 5 = ‘Strongly Agree’ and 1 = ‘Strongly
Disagree’.

Table 1 Demographic distribution of participant (N=125)

Variables Percentage (%)
Gender
Male 50.4
Female 49.6
Age range
20-30 years old 34.4
31-40 years old 40.0
41-50 years old 18.8
Over 50 years old 7.2
Highest education level
College 8.0
Bachelor’s degree 37.6
Master’s degree or higher 54.4
Present Occupation
Employee of public company 26.4
Employee of private company 47.2
Business owner 21.6
Student 4.8
Personal income per month
10,000-20,000 Baht 8.0
20,001-40,000 Baht 24
40,001-60,000 Baht 30.4
60,001-80,000 Baht 13.6
80,001-100,000 Baht 8.0
More than 100,000 Baht 16.0
 13

CHAPTER IV
4. FINDING / RESULTS

4.1 Results of the Principal Component Analysis

Principal component analysis is carried out by the dimension reduction
technique to assess any removable items, to ensure that the factors are really measuring
and explaining the variables. For further details, the popular rotation technique is used,
which is the varimax rotation technique. The rotation method selected is superior to
other rotation methods in achieving a simplified factor structure. The sufficient factor
loading value for interpretative purposes must be greater than 0.4. All items are retained
as there are no issues with eigenvalue, commonalities value, cross factor loadings, and
factor loading values. Ultimately 4 constructs recognised successfully and named based
on relevant items at each group. Details of components are presented at table 2.

Table 2 Rotated component matrix.

Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
Constructs Items
1 2 3 4
I will purchase electric vehicle due its
.881
Preferential insurance policy.
I will purchase electric vehicle due its
.840
Incentive Parking fee reduction policy in city.
policies I will purchase electric vehicle due its
.732
Tax exemption policy.
I will purchase Electric Vehicle due
.665
to its Purchase Subsidy.
I find the Battery life is important to
.838
me.
I find the Driving range is important
.778
to me.
I find the Charging time is important
Performance .750
to me.
I find the New technology adoption in
Electric vehicles caused higher
.536
performance to compare with
conventional vehicles.
 14

I do not want to buy Electric vehicles

.924
because of its high operating cost.
I do not want to buy Electric vehicles
Financial .913
because of its high maintenance cost.
cost fear
I do not want to buy Electric vehicles
because its resale market in future in .695
unpredictable.
I will buy electric cars if it helps to
.875
preserve the environment.
Environment I would buy Electric vehicle when I
aware its positively impact on our .862
ecosystems.

4.2 Common Method Variance—Harman’s Single Factor Test

This study was based on a self-administered questionnaire, so it is
vulnerable to the possibility of common method bias or variance (CMV). Common
method bias is a potential problem in behavioural research. The authors of underlined
that the presence of common method bias in a study can be assessed through Harman’s
single factor test (Podsakoff, MacKenzie et al. 2012). Based on the results, it can be
inferred that the data set of this study although does support CMV as the variance
explained by the single factor is less than 50%.

Table 3 Total variance explained

Initial Eigenvalue Extraction Sums of Squared Loading
Component
Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %
1 1.874 46.847 46.847 1.874 46.847 46.874
2 1.004 25.088 71.935
3 .633 15.822 87.757
4 .490 12.243 100.000
Extraction method: Principal Component Analysis
 15

4.3 Correlation analysis and normality

Table 4 represents the correlation matrix consisting of the Pearson
correlations, which indicate the inter-correlation among the variables studied. we have
no missing data in this data set, all correlations were based on all 125 cases in the data
set. As shown in the table 4, all the study variables are significantly correlated with
intention to purchase. These results additionally indicate that environment has
correlation with performance. Performance has the strongest correlations with the
intention to purchase EVs (r = 0.411, p < 0.01), followed by environment (r = 0.391, p
< 0.01). Furthermore, the skewness and kurtosis values are within the acceptable range
of −3 to +3 each, indicating that the data of the study are normally distributed, and the
normality assumptions of the study are sufficiently met conversely performance
Kurtosis values is over acceptable range which characterizes a non-normally
distributed data. The means, as shown in the table, show that the respondents show a
positive tendency towards the intention to purchase EVs.

Table 4 Inter-construct correlations

IP PF FCF EN
IP Pearson correlation 1
Sig.(2Tailed)
N 125
PF Pearson correlation .411** 1
Sig.(2Tailed) .000
N 125 125
FCF Pearson correlation .332** .153 1
Sig.(2Tailed) .000 .089
N 125 125 125
EN Pearson correlation .391** .352** .019 1
Sig.(2Tailed) .000 .000 .836
N 125 125 125 125
Mean 12.5660 14.5660 8.3520 6.1040
Standard
2.98318 2.07232 2.65397 1.39743
deviation
Skewness -.990 -2.211 -.677 -1.143
Kurtosis .977 6.963 -.359 1.308
Note: **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
 16

4.4 Compare means analysis

The mean score analysis of variables are as follows, 14.6 % performance
(PF), 12.6 % incentive policies (IP), 8.4 % financial cost fear (FCF), 6.1 % environment
(ENV) and 3.6 % purchase intention (PI) presented at Fig. 3.

Fig 3. Mean score analysis.

4.5 Regression analysis

Multiple regression analysis was used in order to test the proposed
hypotheses of the study, as it allows the examination of the influence of the predictors
on the dependent variable. The variance inflation factor (VIF) values of all of the
variables are below the value of 10 (from 1.142 to 1.348), and the tolerance values of
each variable are more than 0.10, indicating that there is no problem of multicollinearity
for this study. Fig 4 reported the normal P–P and residuals’ scatter plots, indicating that
the normality, linearity, and homoscedasticity assumptions are met (Hair, Black et al.
2013).
 17

Fig 4. Normal P–P plot and scatter plot.

From the regression analysis in Table 5 and 6, the results reported that 22.2 percent of
the variance of the intention to purchase EV is explained by Environment, Financial cost
fear, performance, and incentive policies. The analysis shows that financial cost fear (β
= - 0.025, p < 0.05) and performance (β = 0.064, p < 0.05) significantly influenced the
intention to purchase EVs. Hence, H4 and H8 are supported. Meanwhile, incentive
policies (β = 0.203) and Environment (β = 0.322) have an insignificant influence on the
intention to purchase EVS. Therefore, H5 and H7 are rejected. Based on the regression
analysis, financial cost fear is the most notable influence towards the intention to
purchase EVS for Bangkokians. The overall results of the hypotheses testing are
reported in Table 6.

Table 5 Descriptive statistic and correlation of variables in the analysis (N=125)

Mean SD PI IP PF FCF ENV

PI 3.61 1.099 1.000
IP 12.566 2.983 .347 1000
PF 14.566 2.073 .257 .411 1.000
FCF 8.3520 2.654 .058 .322 .153 1.000
ENV 6.1040 1.397 .423 .391 .352 .019 1.000
 18

Table 6 Structural results

Hypothesis Path INTEN Result
H1 PF INT 0.484* Supported
H5 ENV INT 0.001* Not supported
H7 IP INT 0.039* Not supported
H8 FCF INT 0.770* Supported
Construct R2 0.222
*Note: Significant levels: *p < 0.05.
 19

CHAPTER V
5. CONCLUSION AND SCOPE FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

This research goal was to examine the factors that affect the intention to
purchase electrical vehicles in Bangkok. Past research stated that subjective norms,
attitude, perceived behavioural control, financial factors, infrastructure, performance of
electric vehicles, environmental concerns influenced intention to adopt electric vehicles.
However, findings in this research reveal that only performance factors and financial
cost fear have significant relation to Bangkokian intention to purchase electric vehicles.
In terms of performance factor interestingly results of past study in Thailand indicate
that performance factors determine the intention to buy electric vehicle (Thananusak,
Rakthin et al. 2017). Thus, to promote EVs to the Bangkok market, car manufacturers
and government agencies supporting EV adoption should utilize of performance factors
as a key factor. It is necessary to highlight in which performance areas EVs outperform
conventional cars to educate car buyers and, in turn, stimulate EV demand. Therefore,
implementing right strategies in this case would be highly effective to most people in
Bangkok for understanding of the performance difference between EVs and
conventional vehicles. Audience may not be sure about EVs reliability of battery life,
driving range for a single charge. The public may not be sure about how safely EVs
could be used in their driving journey. Ultimately higher attention regards research and
development would be another key aspect which required stronger corporation and
support within both government and car manufacturer.
Providing this information by government and enterprises would assure the
audience and its consequence could increase the rate of EV adoption in Bangkok.
Moreover, finding in this study reveal that financial cost fear is the most
significant factor that positively related to Bangkokian intention to buy EVs. This
finding is in line with past studies indicates relationship between financial cost fear (risk
of high operating cost, high maintenance cost and unpredictable resale market in future
among public) with the intention to buy EVs in many countries as well as Thailand
(Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017, He, Zhan et al. 2018, Kumar and Alok 2020). EV
 20

implementations and technologies are still in the initial stages, especially battery
technology which public still not assure regards quality of batteries in long run operation
or its maintenance cost. Moreover, the limited battery technology of EVs may lead to
higher traffic risk for consumers compared with conventional vehicles. Consumer may
uncertainty regard unpredictable resale market that they may face in future.
Thus, to promote EVs to the Bangkok market, car manufacturers and
government agencies supporting EV adoption should have higher attention regards
quality and period extension of services such as warranties and guarantee of main
components in EVs to eliminate public negative preference regards mentioned risk.
Therefore, given a deep examination by government and car manufactures
in suggested topic and moreover educating public to how government and manufacturer
will be supportive in terms of reduction of risk and uncertainty in future. This would be
incredibly useful to increase the rate of EV adoption in Bangkok.
Notably, although in the many studies indicate that availabilities of
infrastructure facilities and incentive financial policies have positive relationship with
consumers’ intention regarding adoption of electric vehicles (He, Zhan et al. 2018, Ma,
Fan et al. 2019, Kumar and Alok 2020, Asadi, Nilashi et al. 2021). In this study in line
with another study in Thailand we found that the infrastructure and financial
performances are not significantly related to the intention to buy EVs in Bangkok
(Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017). These results regard infrastructure factors indicate
that the Thai respondents are not concerned with the availability and number of the
charging stations in highways or shopping malls due to availability of adequate charging
facilities in cities. Availability of these significant level of infrastructure may be because
of providing policies by government for setting up charging facilities in shopping malls
and vicinities of cities.
The environmental factor was another factor that many study findings
support the positive relationship of environmental concern with the intention to buy EVs
(Thananusak, Rakthin et al. 2017, He, Zhan et al. 2018, Tanwir and Hamzah 2020,
Asadi, Nilashi et al. 2021). However, result of this study does not support previous
result. This may be because many Thai people specially who living in Bangkok still do
not consider the environmental problem as an urgent issue and due the majority trend
they focus more on the conventional vehicles.
 21

Finally based on Theory of Planed Behaviour; subjective norms, attitudes,

and perceived behavioural control were other factors that many studied in region in
countries such as China, Malaysia, Taiwan indicated their positive relationship with the
intention to buy EVs (Huang and Ge 2019, Tu and Yang 2019, Tanwir and Hamzah
2020, Asadi, Nilashi et al. 2021). However, in the results of this research could not find
any significant relationship with intention to purchase EVs in Bangkokians.

5.1 Future research directions

In this paper, a research model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour
(Subjective norms, attitude, and perceived behavioural control), which is integrated with
performance, environmental, financial and infrastructure factors was applied to examine
the factors impacting consumer intention to purchase electric vehicles in the Bangkok.
The main findings, based on the regression analysis, confirmed that environment and
incentive policies have an insignificant influence on individuals’ intention to adopt
electric vehicles.
The empirical result of this study found that the most influential factors were
financial cost fear and performance respectively which has a relation with consumer
purchase intention. Financial cost fear and performance play a vital role in guiding
individuals in their decision-making process.
Essentially, in respect of promoting the adoption of electric vehicles, it is
vital to study what may shape individuals’ motivation in adopting the vehicles.
Therefore, approaches can be executed accordingly by both parties, including
governments and manufacturers. Based on the results of this study, I derive several key
implications for governments and practitioners to escalate the uptake of electric vehicles
among consumers. Firstly, considering the negative role of financial fear cost on the
intention to purchase electric vehicles, several specific approaches should be
implemented to minimize the individuals’ negative perception of buying electric
vehicles. Promoting and highlighting the security of ongoing operating cost of electric
vehicles are regarded as effective ways of raise individuals’ acceptance of electric
vehicles adoption. For example, the effect of providing longer warranties and guarantee
services, providing attractive resale channel, providing incentive policies for consumer
 22

to return their old electric vehicles and get a new model with some special offers or
other concern of electric vehicles can be introduced by manufacturers and relevant
government agencies through multiple channels that can reach the consumers (e.g., car
exhibitions, billboards, television shows, newspapers, radio, and the Internet). These
approaches will attract and educated the public’s attention and understanding of electric
vehicles’ adoption. Next, higher attention to research and development regards batteries
life, charging time and new technologies that adoptions which cause higher performance
on electric vehicles. Some actions can be implemented by governments and automotive
marketers. The government should enact policies that promote the provision of financial
incentives (e.g., tax reduction and subsides) to benefit consumers. Therefore,
individuals’ motivation to own the vehicles can be shaped accordingly. On top of that,
educating the public concerning the ecological impacts of green vehicles’ adoption is
essential.
In Overall, despite the research findings, some improvements can be made
concerning the limitations of this research. Hence, essential points regarding future
research directions. First, the sample size could be expanded in future research the roles
of these variables may vary in different geographies, and future research may be aligned
to make it more collaborative. Researchers may also expand research across different
cities in Thailand to have a wider out outcome. Second, the current study examines the
extent of individuals’ intention to purchase hybrid cars. Therefore, future research can
expand the study model to the extent of actual purchasing behaviour of individuals in
purchasing electric cars. Third, as the method of collecting the data of this research is
fully online based, self-administered survey, the respondents’ honesty, and level of
understanding in answering the questionnaire could not be guaranteed. Hence,
considering another data collection technique for future research could enhance the
quality of the data. Fourth, there are predictors that are not covered in examining
individuals’ intention to purchase electric cars. Therefore, future research could study
more on behavioural aspects such as subjective norms, attitude, perceived behavioural
control, perceived value, and personal norms to enhance the model, which ultimately
will better explain the variance of the study. these could be proposed as potential
predictors of individuals’ intention to buy use EVs.
 23

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 27

APPENDICES

QUESTIONNAIRES
Screening questions
1) Where is your current living?
* Bangkok or its suburbs
* Other cities (Teminate)
2) Have you ever Buy/Owen a Car?
* Yes
* No (Teminate)
Rating questions

Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree

Attitude
1) I think it is very necessary to use
electric vehicles due to their
positive environmentally friendly
impact.

2) I think the affordable price will

highly encourage us to purchase an
electric vehicle.

3) I support the country in

introducing more policies to
encourage individuals to purchase
an electric vehicle.
 28

4) I think buying an electric vehicle

will highly help us to have a much
greener environment.

Subjective norm
1)If people around me use electric
vehicles, this will prompt me to
purchase it too.

2) People who have an influence on

me (such as family and friends)
think that I should buy an electric
vehicle.

3) Most people, important to me,

would approve me to purchase an
electric vehicle.

4) News media propaganda will

prompt me to buy an electric
vehicle.

Perceived Behavioral Control

1) I can largely decide whether to
purchase or not purchase an electric
vehicle at home.

2) I will have the ability to purchase

an electric vehicle in the future.

3) I am confident that if I am able, I

will definitely choose an electric
 29

vehicle for my next purchase.

4) I am confident that the

government tax exemption will
decrease the operating cost of an
electric vehicle.

Environmental Factors
1) I will buy electric cars if it helps
to preserve the environment.

2) By purchasing electric vehicle, I

will feel that I have played a part in
reducing carbon emissions and
conserving the environment.

3) I would buy electric vehicle

when I aware its positively impact
on our ecosystems.

4) I find replacement of
conventional vehicles with electric
vehicles will help to conserve the
rare non-renewable fuel reserves
across the whole cycle of life.

Financial Factors
1) I would buy electric vehicle
without attention to oil market
price.

2) I don’t want to buy electric

 30

vehicles because of its high

maintenance cost.

3) I don’t want to buy electric

vehicles because of its high
operating cost.

4) I don’t want to buy electric

vehicles because its price is higher
than conventional vehicles.

5) I don’t want to buy electric

vehicles because its resale market in
future in unpredictable.

6) I find that I am willing pay more

price for electric vehicles if
charging process be faster.

7) I would buy electric cars if the

maintenance cost were lower than
conventional vehicles.

Infrastructure Factors
1) I find the availability of charging
infrastructure in highways for
electric vehicles is important to me.

2) I find the availability of

indispensable support facilities for
electric vehicle is important to me.
 31

3) I find the availability of the

charging facilities in shopping malls
and working area is important to
me.

4) I find the number of charging

infrastructure in cities is important
to me.

5) I find the availability of after

sales service infrastructure is
important to me.

Performance factor
1) I find the new technology
adoption in Electric vehicles caused
higher performance to compare
with conventional vehicles.

2) I find the safety and reliability of

battery is important to me.

3) I find the electric vehicles

performance is less compare with
conventional vehicles.

4) I find the driving range is

important to me.

5) I find the battery life is important

to me.
 32

6) I find the charging time is

important to me.

7) I find uncertainty regards

performance of electric vehicles in
the long run operation.

Incentive policy
1) I will purchase electric vehicle if
purchase loan amount had
increased.

2) I will purchase electric vehicle

due to its purchase subsidy.

3) I will purchase electric vehicle

due its Tax exemption policy.

4) I will purchase electric vehicle

due its parking fee reduction policy
in city.

5) I would purchase electric vehicle

if its maintenance cost were low.

6) I will purchase electric vehicle

due its preferential insurance policy.

7) I would purchase electric vehicle

to support local manufacture in
Thailand.
 33

Purchase Intention
1) If a full Electric vehicle is
launched next year, I will consider
to buy it.

Personal Information
1) Could you please specify what is your gender?
❏ Male
❏ Female
2) Could you please specify what is your age range?
❏ 20-30 years old
❏ 31-40 years old
❏ 41-50 years old
❏ Over 50 years old
3) Could you please specify what is your highest level of education?
❏ College
❏ Bachelor’s degree
❏ Master’s degree or higher
4) Could you please specify what is your present occupation?
❏ Employee of public company
❏ Employee of private company
❏ Business owner
❏ Student
5) Could you please specify what is your personal income per month?
❏ 10,000 - 20,000 THB
❏ 20,001 - 40,000 THB
❏ 40,001 - 60,000 THB
❏ 60,001 - 100,000 THB
❏ More than 100,000 THB