A review and simple meta-analysis of factors influencing adoption of electric vehicles

The deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) may mitigate major issues such as environmental pollution and dependence on oil. However, the current market penetration of EV is still at the nascent stage despite many governments employing dynamic advertising policies. This paper empirically investigates the factors influencing a consumer's intention to adopt an EV. A total of 211 peer-reviewed research articles published between 2009 and 2019 covering the main categories consumer intentions - adoption intention, purchase intention, behavioural intention, and usage intention, - were selected. This study categorises influential factors, into four main types, namely demographic, situational, contextual, and psychological. A comprehensive overview of the theoretical perspectives was also developed to understand adoption behaviour and a consumer's intentions towards EVs. The findings provide the most common research methodology employed for testing, analysing and comparing the relations among EV factors. A simple meta-analysis shows that the trend of studies on the influencing factors for adopting EVs has increased significantly over the past decade. Finally, this review study has managerial implications and shows future directions for EV researchers and practitioners that may help governments and the automobile industry to increase the usage share of EVs.