Abstract:

The perceptions and attitudes of the society and potential consumers is a major issue to adopt energy-sustainable product innovations. Current critical issues such as global warming, reducing energy sources and air pollution make it important to understand and manage the diffusion of sustainable transportation vehicles. The transport sector is responsible for more than 14% of harmful gas emissions worldwide and measures should be taken not only by industrialized countries but also the developing countries must take the issue seriously. Industrialized countries are able to investing in fully electric vehicles and its infrastructure through the country. On the other hand, instead of expensive investments in infrastructure for electric vehicles, policies to encourage the usage of hybrid vehicles seems to be a better short term approach for developing countries. This paper reports the results of a case study about the perceptions and attitudes of potential consumers towards hybrid vehicles. A questionnaire survey was conducted with the prep class and 4thyear engineering students. The survey included 154 filled forms of which 149 were taken into analysis. Perceptions about the hybrid vehicles change according to the gender, age, class and income of the participants. An overall environmentally friendly perception and a positive attitude to purchase hybrid vehicles were observed.   

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