Understanding consumers’ adoption of new energy vehicles in the transition to sustainable transportation

The advent of new energy vehicles (NEVs) presents hopeful pathways to alleviate the strain caused by fossil fuel consumption and environmental deterioration. However, the widespread adoption of NEVs remains a challenge. Current research on the adoption of NEVs tends to concentrate on factors like consumer psychology and vehicle performance while neglecting the role of cultural values and purchase costs in consumers’ decision-making process. Therefore, this study innovatively integrates uncertainty avoidance and price awareness into the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and explores the moderating effect of environmental awareness. This study employs partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to validate the hypotheses and the synergistic influence of antecedent combinations on the purchase intention of NEVs. The findings show that price consciousness, perceived ease of use, and attitude are important influencing factors motivating consumers to make purchasing decisions and reveal the mechanisms of uncertainty avoidance, perceived usefulness, and environmental awareness on the purchase intention of NEVs. Furthermore, fsQCA identified four conditions that are sufficient to promote the purchase intention of NEVs.