TY  - JOUR
AU  - Voegele, Stefan
AU  - Broska, Lisa Hanna
AU  - Otte, Sebastian
AU  - Rübbelke, Dirk
TI  - Why the trend towards gas-guzzlers? A closer look at the complex effects of social norms on German car buyers
JO  - Energy research & social science
VL  - 72
SN  - 2214-6296
CY  - Amsterdam [u.a.]
PB  - Elsevier
M1  - FZJ-2020-05422
SP  - 101840 -
PY  - 2021
AB  - Abstract: The transport sector is one of the major drivers of global climate change, with a large share related to the personal use of cars. Paradoxically, as efforts are undertaken to reduce this share, a trend to buy large, heavy cars with comparatively high fuel consumption is occurring nearly worldwide. In this article, we analyze the possible influence of social norms in car-buying decisions and in particular in the trend towards sport utility vehicles (SUVs). After giving a short introduction into the theoretical foundations underlying this research, we develop a model applying a multi-criteria decision analysis approach. By using data from surveys conducted by VuMA Touchpoints and ARAL, on German car buyers, preferences and characteristics of the different social groups in German society, as well as the ADAC on characteristics of different car types, we quantify the influence of social norms on car-buying decisions. Our results indicate that social norms play a significant role in driving the demand for heavyweight passenger cars across most social groups, while the desire for social esteem leads some groups in particular to purchase SUVs and off-road vehicles. By taking society’s heterogeneity into account, we show that social norms are group-specific and not universal in society, though car choice is always to a certain extent influenced by social norms and ranges from between 24% and 42% in our model calculations. The novel approach taken in this research can be applied beyond the mobility sector to other environmentally significant consumer behaviors.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000624443900005
DO  - DOI:10.1016/j.erss.2020.101840
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/889054
ER  -