Examining consumer innovativeness and environmental concern in electric vehicle adoption: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region of China

• Draws on data from 616 experienced EV users in China’s Yangtze River Delta, a large and heterogeneous EV market with relatively high adoption levels. • Employs an integrated UTAUT–VBN framework analyzed through structural equation modeling with moderated mediation, explaining 61 % of EV adoption intention. • Consumer innovativeness drives adoption intention directly (β = 0.325, p < 0.001) and indirectly via performance expectancy (β = 0.176, p < 0.01) and facilitating conditions (β = 0.432, p < 0.001). • Environmental concern influences adoption intention only indirectly through performance expectancy (β = 0.246, p < 0.001) and facilitating conditions (β = 0.034, p < 0.05). • Gender moderates the innovativeness–adoption pathway, with the indirect effects varying across gender groups (95% CI ε [−0.116, −0.009], [−0.151, −0.018]). Electric vehicles (EVs) have become increasingly mainstream in China, yet the psychological drivers of adoption may evolve as markets progress. This study reexamines these drivers by incorporating consumer innovativeness and environmental concern into the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Drawing on 616 valid survey responses from EV owners and test drivers in the Yangtze River Delta, we employed structural equation modeling with moderated mediation analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings indicate that innovativeness exerts both direct (β = 0.33) and indirect effects on adoption intention through performance expectancy (β = 0.18) and facilitating conditions (β = 0.43). In contrast, the effect of environmental concern is entirely indirect. Gender functions as a significant contextual moderator in the innovativeness–adoption pathway, with the magnitude of indirect effects varying across gender groups. The model explains 61 % of the variance in adoption intention, offering a coherent account of the psychological mechanisms shaping EV adoption. These results underscore the need to strengthen technological value propositions and infrastructure support to sustain adoption momentum in an increasingly competitive EV market.