Effects of incentive policies on the purchase intention of electric vehicles in China: Psychosocial value and family ownership

The effect of various policies on electric vehicle (EV) adoption has garnered increasing interest. However, most existing studies primarily focus on the direct effects, neglecting an in-depth exploration of the underlying mechanisms and their magnitudes. Drawing upon the perspective of social psychology regarding material possessions, this study examines the mediating role of psychosocial value, an individual’s mental mechanism, between three types of incentive policies (financial incentives, information provision, and convenience policies) and consumers’ intentions to purchase EVs. Additionally, we analyse the moderating effect of family EV ownership on the relationship between incentive policies and psychosocial value. Based on a survey of 402 respondents in China, our findings indicate that all three types of incentive policies positively influence consumers’ intention to purchase EVs. Moreover, psychosocial value mediates the relationship between incentive policies and purchase intention. Among the three types of incentives, the financial incentive policy holds the least importance in enhancing psychosocial value and purchase intention, while the convenience policy is deemed the most influential. Furthermore, the relationship between incentive policies and psychosocial value is stronger for families without EV ownership. Finally, we provide implications and suggestions for future research. •Investigate the policy-influencing mechanism on consumers’ EVs purchase intention.•Psychosocial value mediates the impact of three-type policies on adoption intention.•Experiential advantage of EV ownership does not strengthen purchase intention.•The strongest stimulation of the convenience policy through psychosocial value.•Diversification and differentiation of EVs policy mix should be emphasized.