BRIDGING THE GREEN COGNITION-BEHAVIOR GAP: THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE, DIGITAL LITERACY, AND SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS IN BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES (BEV) ADOPTION IN CHINA

Abstract

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are currently perceived as one of the most important solutions in terms of limiting environmental impact, but there is a wide chasm between concern and adoption behavior. This research seeks to analyze the impact of environmental concern on the uptake of BEV in China by evaluating mediating variables like information literacy, safety and problem-solving abilities, and moderating effects of consumer knowledge and socioeconomic status. A sample of BEV buyers was surveyed with a formatted questionnaire. The results demonstrate that information literacy, safety, and problem-solving have a robust mediating effect on the association between environmental concern and BEV adoption, whereas consumer knowledge reinforces this connection. Socioeconomic status, however, does not indicate a moderating effect. In a practical sense, these findings underscore the necessity to improve consumer education, stimulate better access to reliable information about BEVs, resolve the perceptions of safety, and build problem-solving skills. When combined with supportive infrastructure, such initiatives have the potential to transform environmental concern into actual action in the form of environmentally friendly purchasing, speeding up the shift towards sustainable mobility, and supporting further environmentally related goals in Chinese society.