Giving Green to Get Green: Incentives and Consumer Adoption of Hybrid Vehicle Technology

The Interplay of Product Involvement and Sustainable Consumption: An Empirical Analysis of Behavioral Intentions Related to Green Hotels, Organic Wines and Green Cars

“…These green cars tend to provide more miles per gallon as they often combine two fuel sources – gasoline and battery – or rely on a battery source alone. These vehicles, thus, consume less gasoline per mile and emit less pollution than comparable conventional gas‐engine automobiles (Gallagher and Muehlegger, ). In essence, these cars are more environmentally friendly, technologically advanced and expensive than their non‐green counterparts (Oliver and Lee, ).…”

“…Economic gain, technological interest and environmental values are among the top reasons for green car patronage (see, e.g., Heffner et al ., , ; Klein, ; Ozaki and Sevastyanova, ). Consumers adopt green cars, generally, in response to increases in gasoline expenses and government incentives, and, per se, ownership of such cars is supposed to diminish energy consumption and increase energy security (Gallagher and Muehlegger, ; Ozaki and Sevastyanova, ). Government incentives can include income tax credits and deductions, state sales tax waivers, single‐passenger accessibility to high‐occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and other applicable relinquishments such as costs associated with registration, emissions testing, excise and parking (Gallagher and Muehlegger, ).…”

“…Consumers adopt green cars, generally, in response to increases in gasoline expenses and government incentives, and, per se, ownership of such cars is supposed to diminish energy consumption and increase energy security (Gallagher and Muehlegger, ; Ozaki and Sevastyanova, ). Government incentives can include income tax credits and deductions, state sales tax waivers, single‐passenger accessibility to high‐occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and other applicable relinquishments such as costs associated with registration, emissions testing, excise and parking (Gallagher and Muehlegger, ). One study illustrated that 41% of Americans were willing to pay a premium for green cars (Ong and Hasselhoff, ).…”

New vehicle feebates

“…The feebate response parameters estimated in section 3 assume that consumers respond to fees and rebates symmetrically-a subsidy is simply a negative tax. Recent evidence suggests that the characteristics of the policy intervention may influence household decisions (e.g., Chetty et al 2009, Gallagher andMuehlegger 2011). In the feebate context, consumers may react differently when faced with a rebate or a fee.…”

“…Many jurisdictions also offer incentive programs to encourage consumers to adopt fuel efficient, electric and hybrid vehicles. Fuel economy standards, however, can be inefficient (e.g., Greene 1991, Thorpe 1997, Kleit 2004, Austin and Dinan 2005, Fischer et al 2007 or are potentially non-binding (Small and Van Dender 2007), while incentive programs require significant funding to be effective (e.g., Chandra et al 2010, Gallagher andMuehlegger 2011). Feebate systems are often discussed in conjunction with these policies; indeed, even though we have limited empirical evidence of their effectiveness, feebates are viewed as substitutes for CAFE standards (Klier and Linn 2012, Roth 2012, Gillingham 2013.…”