Modelling Electric Car Purchase Intention and Cost Affinity

Green and sustainability are important elements to address climate change especially due to high carbon emissions. Many countries including Malaysia have embarked on electric vehicles especially electric cars as a potent solution in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission levels. Nevertheless, the adoption rate of electric vehicles is still at a very low level, despite strong encouragement from the Malaysian government. This study aims to examine the moderating impact of price value on the factors that influence electric car purchase intention in Malaysia. This study would be targeting Gen Z individuals as the unit of analysis. Henceforth, this could provide insights into how electric cars can penetrate the mainstream market, and within the same notion, may uncover methods to encourage the usage of electric cars. This research is underpinned by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Usage of Technology (UTAUT) and incorporated the price value construct as the moderator to performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and social influence. The purposive sampling method is employed to obtain primary data from the respondents via a self-administered questionnaire followed by data analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), a second-generation multivariate analysis.