The effect of environmental concerns on electric vehicles adoption behavior in dual-Distribution channel under the background of platform economy

ABSTRACT

Arousing by the increasingly serious environmental pollution and public health problems, social consumers are becoming more environmentally responsible. Consumers’ environmental concerns may have an important effect on electric vehicles (EVs) adoption behaviour in dual-distribution channels supply chain under the background of the platform economy. This study constructs a benchmark model to illustrate how a strategic firm makes profit-maximising pricing decisions with heterogeneous consumers on environmental concerns. Further mathematical derivation and numerical study illustrated the relationships between environmental concerns and the manufacturer’s pricing strategy, subsidy effect, social welfare, and EVs adoption. The results show that the impact of environmental concerns on EVs adoption may not always be as positive as previously presented in the literature. The effect of environmental concerns on the manufacturer’s pricing strategy, subsidy effect, and social welfare are different in different critical boundaries. Several suggestions to promote green and sustainable supply chain management about EVs are also provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Electric vehicle
• environmental concern
• distribution channel
• market segment

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the generous financial support provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (71804174;71801073), Science and Technology Planning Project of Shaanxi Province, China (2020JQ-398), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (300102230104), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M683403).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 https://xueqiu.com/S/SZ399417/176416344

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [Grant Number 2020M683403]; Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant Number 71801073, 71804174]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD [Grant Number 300102231616]; Science and Technology Planning Project of Shaanxi Province [Grant Number 2020JQ-398]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD [Grant Number 300102230104].