Adoption of sustainable technology: hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs)

Abstract

Recent environmental awareness has led to an expanding interest surrounding environmental consciousness and a greater social shift world over towards energy efficiency and the sustainability of technologies and resources. Consequently, there has been the development of sustainable technologies within the automobile industry including that of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). With the development of these technologies, it becomes necessary to investigate the factors that underpin the use and adoption of them within our society, so as to ensure their greater diffusion, use and adoption. In this light, this study aimed to investigate the factors that function in predicting the Intention to Adopt the sustainable technology of HEVs. This has been investigated in accordance with the constructs of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. This model comprises the constructs of: Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence and Facilitating Conditions. This study also intended to examine these constructs and determine whether they are moderated by the constructs of Pro-Environmental Behaviour and Dispositional Resistance to Change in predicting the Intention to Adopt HEVs. The sample for this study was comprised of 133 final year Law students from the University of the Witwatersrand. The adapted UTAUT Scale, the adapted Dispositional Resistance to Change Scale and the Pro-Environmental Scale were utilised as the measures within this study. Several subscales of the UTAUT Scale as well as the Pro-Environmental Behaviour (PEB) Scale had low Internal Consistency Reliabilities within both the Pilot and Main study. However, the researcher chose to run the analyses taking this into consideration. Several subscales of the UTAUT Scale as well as the Dispositional Resistance to Change (DRC) Scale had acceptable levels of Internal Consistency Reliabilities for use in conducting analyses. Multiple regression equations and moderated multiple regression equations were run in order to investigate the effects of these constructs in predicting the Intention to Adopt HEVs. The results drawn from this study illustrated that there was a positive, significant effect of two questions concerning lifestyle factors and a reduced taxed levy of the construct Facilitating Conditions on Intention to Adopt HEVs. The results also showed that the constructs of PEB and DRC had no direct moderating influence on Intention to Adopt HEVs.