Purchasing Factors of Hybrid Vehicles in Consumers

Abstract

In this study, we conducted a web-questionnaire survey of 1,784 households that had purchased new automobiles from April 2009 to October 2010, and analyzed the purchasing factors of hybrid vehicles in consumers in Japan from two aspects: the decision-making process and the type of vehicle chosen. On the decision-making process in purchasing hybrid vehicles, the interest in the subsidy and the tax reduction for ecologically friendly cars encourages consumers both to consider the purchase of hybrid vehicles favorably and to make a final decision on purchase, and the interest in global warming encourages consumers only to consider the purchase of hybrid vehicles favorably. On the consumers’ choice of the type of vehicle, the consumers who have a greater interest in the subsidy and the tax reduction tend to prefer fuel-efficient cars without distinction between hybrid and gasoline vehicles. In contrast, the consumers who have more access to information on global warming tend to prefer hybrid vehicles to gasoline vehicles.