A Study of Adopter Categorization and Loyalty of Customers Using Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV)

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate: 1) types of customer innovation adoption and 2) customer loyalty among Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) users. The research hypothesized that different adoption types lead to varying levels of loyalty.

A quantitative research approach was employed, collecting questionnaires from 100 BEV users who had used the vehicle for at least one month. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing using one-way ANOVA.

The findings revealed that: 1) The observation of three major customer adoption types for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) suggests that the BEV innovation has achieved social acceptance in Thailand, evolving into a mass-market commodity with greater accessibility for Thai consumers compared to previous years. 2) Customer loyalty among BEV users was found to be at a high overall level (= 4.11). Specifically, the word-of-mouth communications component showed the highest overall level (= 4.45) Furthermore, customers categorized as Innovators and Early Adopters exhibited similar behaviors: if they did not encounter any problems during use, both types of customers would share positive experiences about BEV usage with others. However, if problems arose from usage or service failure, both types of adopters would report these issues to service centers and the Brand dealer, communicate negative experiences to others, and lodge complaints with external organizations. The Early Majority adoption category distinctly differs from the other types. The hypothesis testing results indicated that the hypothesis was accepted at a significant level of 0.05.