Psychological predictors of intention to purchase a battery electric vehicle: A comparison between Norway and Italy

• Norway and Italy were compared on the factors relevant for BEV purchase intention. • Technical and affective attitudes were significant for the intention in both samples. • Economic attitudes had a significant role in the intention in Norway. • Descriptive norm was a significant predictor of the intention for Norwegians. • Psychological factors play a big role in the BEV purchase intentions. Studies comparing different countries on factors influencing the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEV) could help develop more efficient electric vehicle policies, especially in countries with low BEV adoption rates. The present study aimed to compare Norway and Italy on the psychological and socio-demographic factors that are relevant for BEV use. These two cases represent extremes with Norway being a mature market where respondents have first-hand knowledge and are repurchasers of BEVs, while Italy is a developing market with respondents being first-time users of the new technology. The Theory of Planned Behavior was used as the theoretical framework for understanding the role of attitudes and social norms on the BEV purchase intention. A web survey was used to collect data from a total of 1144 respondents (501 Norwegians, 643 Italians). Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictors of the intention to purchase a BEV. Results showed that the respondents’ attitudes towards the technical/functional and affective aspects of BEV use had a significant role in the BEV purchase intention in both samples. Attitudes towards the economic aspects of BEVs had a significant effect on the intention only in the Norwegian sample. Regarding the social norms, the descriptive norm was a significant predictor of the purchase intention for the Norwegian respondents, whereas the subjective norm was a significant predictor for the Italian respondents. Also, increasing age, lower income and education level, and bigger household size were significantly and negatively related to the purchase intention in the Norwegian sample. Neither charging availability at home nor the type of environment the respondents lived in (urban/suburban/rural) had a significant role in any of the samples. The findings indicate that, rather than the socio-demographic factors and charging facilities, psychological factors play a bigger role in the BEV purchase intentions in both countries. Giving more focus to changing the attitudes and social norms regarding BEV use and developing marketing strategies based on the specific psychological factors that are highlighted in each country could be effective in increasing the use of BEVs.