In this paper, the relations between stated and revealed car preferences and the use of information sources in the car-purchasing process have beenmeasured, based on a survey of households in the Netherlands. The analysis showed that attitudinal and behavioral constructs are found for æenvironmentalÆ, æperformanceÆ, and æconvenienceÆ preferences, but that there is aægapÆ between attitude and behavior. The results show that people with a positive environmental attitude who also show environmentally friendly behavior have more involvement with cars than people who do not translate their environmental attitude into the corresponding behavior. This leads to the idea that not only environmental knowledge but also involvement with cars is a prerequisite for buying an environmentally friendly car. (A) Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.
Abstract