Activity Report 2008-2009 Prospective Research Brussels: eco-friendly car purchase and travel behavior in the Brussels Capital Region

    Onderzoeksoutput: Commissioned report

    Samenvatting

    Environmental issues on local, regional and global scale are becoming increasingly important. The adverse effects of personal transport on the environment need to be recognized and acted upon (Van Mierlo and Macharis, 2005). Together with governmental authorities, consumers increasingly express a general concern about the environmental impact of car use. A sensible approach to reduce the impact of transport on the environment is to reduce the use of personal transportation by means of conventional diesel and petrol vehicles, in favor of bicycle and public transport use (Purcher and Renne, 2003). However, most consumers are not disposed to let go of their car as primary means of transportation (Brög, Erl and Mense, 2002), mostly because of strong feelings of convenience and independence associated to car use (Tertoolen, Kreveld and Verstraten, 1998). Therefore, stimulating the purchase of alternatives to conventional petrol and diesel vehicles is essential. A variety of policy measures (e.g. subsidies, road pricing, green taxation... ) to promote the purchase and use of environmentally friendlier cars and/or to discourage the use of conventionally fueled cars are operational in different countries, some with proven usefulness, some still in an evaluation phase (Denys and Govaerts, 2007). Despite governmental efforts, the market share of environmentally friendlier cars remains limited (e.g. in 2008 in Belgium, the market share of environmentally friendlier vehicles -defined as emitting less than 115gr/km CO2- constituted merely 5.19% of new car sales Mairesse et al., 2008). A vast majority of consumers do report positive attitudes towards the environment, but do not necessarily purchase environmentally friendly vehicles (Alwitt and Potts, 1996). This discrepancy between environmental attitude and ecological behaviour, is known as the attitude-action gap (Lane and Potter, 2007) and has received much attention in the field of environmental psychology and economics. However, due to methodological issues, the process of how positive attitudes have low impact on behaviour remains insufficiently understood. Each attempt to change the consumers' activities and lifestyles requires a comprehensive understanding of determinants of consumer behavior (Thøgersen and Ölander, 2003). Therefore, grasping the discrepancy between attitude and behavior, as well as uncovering the mechanisms of purchase behaviour is essential for the formulation of effective policy measures to promote the purchase of cleaner cars.

    Governments dispose of several policy instruments to influence transport behavior and fleet compositions. Pricing instruments such as vehicle taxation, road pricing or subsidies, subsidies and user (dis)advantages are possible policy pathways that need to be investigated in terms of effectiveness, usefulness and priority. According to Gordon (2005), a package of sound fiscal policies, accompanied by strong regulatory policies, is necessary to steer the market towards cleaner vehicles. While individual policy designs are important, comprehensive consideration of overall policy package impacts is even more important. A simultaneous top-down and bottom-up policymaking approach is necessary in this complex, dynamic sector. The bottom-up component entails developing fiscal policies based on sound principles - aligning prices with marginal social costs (establishing variable prices for fuels, vehicles, and roads that are related to energy consumption, pollution, congestion, and other socially harmful impacts). A top-down effort in fiscal transportation policy making is equally important as designing individual policies. This entails examining fiscal policies as a complete package, i.e. any individual fiscal policy is only one part of the total set of prices faced by users. Assessing individual policies is of obvious necessity; however, examining the effectiveness of combined measure has become essential in policy making.

    This project aims at mapping and uncovering the dynamics of the attributes that play a role in the purchase of a vehicle and to assess the impact of environmental car attributes within this process. Additionally, a selection of policy pathway will be determined based on these insights and their effectiveness will be assessed. This will allow for the investigation of the financial and environmental impacts of the proposed scenarios and the formulation of key recommendations for policy implementation.

    In summary, the present research project aims at meeting two main research objectives:
    * gaining insight in the process of vehicle purchase behavior (PHASE I)
    * assessing the effectiveness and elasticities of (combined) policy measures on car purchase and modal shift intentions (PHASE II)

    In order to meet these objectives, an in-depth investigation in the cognitive processes of vehicle purchase at the level of the consumer is necessary, as well as the formulation and evaluation of the effectiveness of proposed policy pathways (i.e. combined policy measures) at different stakeholder levels. To do so, we set up a multi-actor collaboration between the MOSI-T and ETEC department of the VUB (Nele Sergeant & Joeri Van Mierlo: parallel PRB project: "Eco-efficiency of the Brussels mobility based on the Ecoscore methodology"). During previous collaborations, the complementary expertise of both partners has been reinforced, creating maximum possible efficiency. Research at the MOSI-T department will focus essentially on uncovering behavioral processes and defining price elasticities and their respective impact on travel and purchase behaviour. Together with the ETEC department policy scenarios will be prepared incorporating this output and taking into account the environmental performance of vehicles (ECOSCORE) and the composition of the fleet in the Brussels Capital Region (ETEC). Joining both domains of expertise allows for broad, multi-disciplinary input in assessing and evaluating policy measures to reduce the environmental burden of personal transportation in the Brussels Capital Region.
    Originele taal-2English
    UitgeverijUnknown
    StatusPublished - 2009

    Vingerafdruk

    Duik in de onderzoeksthema's van 'Activity Report 2008-2009 Prospective Research Brussels: eco-friendly car purchase and travel behavior in the Brussels Capital Region'. Samen vormen ze een unieke vingerafdruk.

    Citeer dit