CONSUMER INTENTION TO BUY ELECTRIC CARS: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF FUTURE UNCERTAINTY DUE TO THE WAR IN UKRAINE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR

The topic of sustainable mobility has been prioritized on the EU’s political agenda, with the goal of lowering CO2 emissions and air pollution. This goal entails the introduction of low-polluting cars, such as those driven by an electric battery (BEV), into the EU car market. The current investigation was guided by the theory of planned behavior (TPB): The three main TPB constructs—attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control—as well as the intention to purchase a BEV have been measured. In addition, we were interested to explore the influence of individuals’ uncertainty due to the Ukrainian war on the intention to buy a BEV. Future uncertainty related to the war in Ukraine might enhance individuals’ concern about economy and energy, thus influencing the intention to buy BEVs. An online survey was conducted, with measures of the TPB main constructs and war-related uncertainty. Results show that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly predict the intention to buy BEVs. In addition, future uncertainty due to war in Ukraine has a significant positive indirect effect on participants’ intention to buy BEVs via attitude and subjective norm. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of results are discussed in the paper.