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Journal Article•DOI•

Car use: lust and must. Instrumental, symbolic and affective motives for car use

Linda Steg1•
University of Groningen1
01 Feb 2005-Transportation Research Part A-policy and Practice (PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD)-Vol. 39, Iss: 2, pp 147-162
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report results of two questionnaire studies aimed at examining various motives for car use, and investigate individual differences in the relative importance of the three categories of motives were investigated.
Abstract: This paper reports results of two questionnaire studies aimed at examining various motives for car use. In the first study, a random selection of 185 respondents who possess a driving licence were interviewed. Respondents were recruited from the cities of Groningen and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The sample of the second study comprised a random selection of 113 commuters who regularly travelled during rush hours in and around Rotterdam, a region in the west of the Netherlands. First, it was examined which categories of car use motives may be distinguished. As proposed by Dittmar’s (1992) [The social psychology of material possessions: to have is to be. Havester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, UK; St. Martin’s Press, New York] model on the meaning of material possessions, results from both studies revealed that car use not only fulfils instrumental functions, but also important symbolic and affective functions. Second, it was studied to what extent these different motives are related to the level of car use. From the results of study 2, it appeared that commuter car use was most strongly related to symbolic and affective motives, and not to instrumental motives. Third, individual differences in the relative importance of the three categories of motives were investigated. In both studies, most group differences were found in the evaluation of the symbolic and affective motives (and not the instrumental ones). Especially frequent drivers, respondents with a positive car attitude, male and younger respondents valued these non-instrumental motives for car use. These results suggest that policy makers should not exclusively focus on instrumental motives for car use, but they should consider the many social and affective motives as well.

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Citations
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Journal Article•DOI•
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour : An integrative review and research agenda

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Linda Steg, Charles Vlek1•
University of Groningen1
01 Sep 2009-Journal of Environmental Psychology
TL;DR: In this paper, the contribution and potential of environmental psychology for understanding and promoting pro-environmental behaviour is discussed. But, the authors focus on four main factors underlying human behaviour patterns: identification of the behaviour to be changed, examination of the main factors behind this behaviour, design and application of interventions to change behaviour to reduce environmental impact, and evaluation of the effects of interventions.

3,297 citations

Cites background from "Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..."

  • ...Steg (2005) demonstrated that Dittmar’s (1992) theory on the meaning of material possessions provides a promising perspective....

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  • ...Steg (2005) showed that car use is most strongly related to symbolic and affective motives, while instrumental motives are less important....

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Journal Article•DOI•
Barriers to widespread adoption of electric vehicles: An analysis of consumer attitudes and perceptions

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Ona Egbue1, Suzanna Long1•
Missouri University of Science and Technology1
01 Sep 2012-Energy Policy
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify potential socio-technical barriers to consumer adoption of EVs and determine if sustainability issues influence consumer decision to purchase an EV, and provide valuable insights into preferences and perceptions of technology enthusiasts; individuals highly connected to technology development and better equipped to sort out the many differences between EVs and CVs.

1,207 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Normative, Gain and Hedonic Goal Frames Guiding Environmental Behavior

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Siegwart Lindenberg1, Linda Steg1•
University of Groningen1
01 Mar 2007-Journal of Social Issues
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce goal-framing theory, which postulates that goals "frame" the way people process information and act upon it, and three goal frames are distinguished: a hedonic, gain, and normative goal frame.
Abstract: This article discusses new developments about goal-dependent framing and multiple goal frames (sometimes also called “multiple motives”), which are highly relevant for understanding environmental behavior. We introduce goal-framing theory, which postulates that goals “frame” the way people process information and act upon it. Three goal frames are distinguished: a hedonic, gain, and normative goal frame. In general, multiple goals are active at any given time, which may (or may not) be compatible; that is, the strength of the focal goal may be influenced by other goals that are in the background. Based on an extensive review of studies in environmental psychology, we suggest those conditions under which each goal frame may be dominant in influencing environmental behavior. In the environmental context, normative goal frames imply acting pro-environmentally, while gain and hedonic goal frames often result in not acting in an environmentally sound manner. Next, we argue that pro-environmental behavior may be promoted by strengthening normative goals or by making gain and hedonic goals less incompatible with normative goals. Finally, based on goal-framing theory, we suggest questions to be addressed in future research.

1,025 citations

Cites background from "Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..."

  • ...Steg (2005) found that commuter car-use was best predicted by affect, and not by instrumental motives (such as costs)....

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  • ...Steg (2005) reports that both social norms and affect were related to commuter car-use, while Lee and Holden (1999) found that both affect and concern for others (i.e., empathy) were related to pro-environmental behavior....

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Journal Article•DOI•
Understanding attitudes towards public transport and private car: A qualitative study

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Gabriela Beirão1, J. Sarsfield Cabral1•
University of Porto1
01 Nov 2007-Transport Policy
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the results of a qualitative study of public transport users and car users in order to obtain a deeper understanding of travellers' attitudes towards transport and to explore perceptions of public transportation service quality.

997 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Advances in consumer electric vehicle adoption research: A review and research agenda

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Zeinab Rezvani1, Johan Jansson1, Jan Bodin1•
Umeå University1
01 Jan 2015-Transportation Research Part D-transport and Environment
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a comprehensive overview of the drivers for and barriers against consumer adoption of plug-in EVs, as well as an overview of theoretical perspectives that have been utilized for understanding consumer intentions and adoption behavior towards EVs, identifying gaps and limitations in existing research and suggest areas in which future research would be able to contribute.
Abstract: In spite of the purported positive environmental consequences of electrifying the light duty vehicle fleet, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) in use is still insignificant. One reason for the modest adoption figures is that the mass acceptance of EVs to a large extent is reliant on consumers’ perception of EVs. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the drivers for and barriers against consumer adoption of plug-in EVs, as well as an overview of the theoretical perspectives that have been utilized for understanding consumer intentions and adoption behavior towards EVs. In addition, we identify gaps and limitations in existing research and suggest areas in which future research would be able to contribute.

788 citations

Cites background from "Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..."

  • ...Giddens (1991) and Dittmar (1992; cited in Steg, 2005) assert that individuals’ choices such as purchase of a car are not only based on practical concerns or instrumental values but also on symbolic values and narratives of self which connects their choices with their self- identity....

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  • ...…emotions are found to be important and influential in pro-environmental behavior (Bamberg and Möser, 2007; Steg and Vlek, 2009) and choice of cars (Steg, 2005), we are still lacking theorization of emotions in relation to pro-environmental behavior (such as adoption of EVs) and also the link of…...

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  • ...Consumer emotions are shown to be important in the domain of car purchase (Steg, 2005), pro-environmental behavior (Bamberg and Möser, 2007; Onwezen et al....

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  • ...Consumer emotions are shown to be important in the domain of car purchase (Steg, 2005), pro-environmental behavior (Bamberg and Möser, 2007; Onwezen et al., 2013; Steg and Vlek, 2009), consumer adoption of innovations (Shih and Schau, 2011; Watson and Spence, 2007) and consumer adoption of EVs…...

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  • ...Although emotions are found to be important and influential in pro-environmental behavior (Bamberg and Möser, 2007; Steg and Vlek, 2009) and choice of cars (Steg, 2005), we are still lacking theorization of emotions in relation to pro-environmental behavior (such as adoption of EVs) and also the link of emotions with other factors such as values, beliefs, and norms....

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References
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Journal Article•DOI•
A Theory of Social Comparison Processes

[...]

Leon Festinger
01 May 1954-Human Relations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that there is a strong functional tie between opinions and abilities in humans and that the ability evaluation of an individual can be expressed as a comparison of the performance of a particular ability with other abilities.
Abstract: Hypothesis I: There exists, in the human organism, a drive to evaluate his opinions and his abilities. While opinions and abilities may, at first glance, seem to be quite different things, there is a close functional tie between them. They act together in the manner in which they affect behavior. A person’s cognition (his opinions and beliefs) about the situation in which he exists and his appraisals of what he is capable of doing (his evaluation of his abilities) will together have bearing on his behavior. The holding of incorrect opinions and/or inaccurate appraisals of one’s abilities can be punishing or even fatal in many situations. It is necessary, before we proceed, to clarify the distinction between opinions and evaluations of abilities since at first glance it may seem that one’s evaluation of one’s own ability is an opinion about it. Abilities are of course manifested only through performance which is assumed to depend upon the particular ability. The clarity of the manifestation or performance can vary from instances where there is no clear ordering criterion of the ability to instances where the performance which reflects the ability can be clearly ordered. In the former case, the evaluation of the ability does function like other opinions which are not directly testable in “objective reality’. For example, a person’s evaluation of his ability to write poetry will depend to a large extent on the opinions which others have of his ability to write poetry. In cases where the criterion is unambiguous and can be clearly ordered, this furnishes an objective reality for the evaluation of one’s ability so that it depends less on the opinions of other persons and depends more on actual comparison of one’s performance with the performance of others. Thus, if a person evaluates his running ability, he will do so by comparing his time to run some distance with the times that other persons have taken. In the following pages, when we talk about evaluating an ability, we shall mean specifically the evaluation of that ability in situations where the performance is unambiguous and is known. Most situations in real life will, of course, present situations which are a mixture of opinion and ability evaluation. In a previous article (7) the author posited the existence of a drive to determine whether or not one’s opinions were “correct”. We are here stating that this same drive also produces behavior in people oriented toward obtaining an accurate appraisal of their abilities. The behavioral implication of the existence of such a drive is that we would expect to observe behaviour on the part of persons which enables them to ascertain whether or not their opinions are correct and also behavior which enables them accurately to evaluate their abilities. It is consequently

16,927 citations

Book Chapter•DOI•
From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior

[...]

Icek Ajzen
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: There appears to be general agreement among social psychologists that most human behavior is goal-directed (e. g., Heider, 1958 ; Lewin, 1951), and human social behavior can best be described as following along lines of more or less well-formulated plans.
Abstract: There appears to be general agreement among social psychologists that most human behavior is goal-directed (e. g., Heider, 1958 ; Lewin, 1951). Being neither capricious nor frivolous, human social behavior can best be described as following along lines of more or less well-formulated plans. Before attending a concert, for example, a person may extend an invitation to a date, purchase tickets, change into proper attire, call a cab, collect the date, and proceed to the concert hall. Most, if not all, of these activities will have been designed in advance; their execution occurs as the plan unfolds. To be sure, a certain sequence of actions can become so habitual or routine that it is performed almost automatically, as in the case of driving from home to work or playing the piano. Highly developed skills of this kind typically no longer require conscious formulation of a behavioral plan. Nevertheless, at least in general outline, we are normally well aware of the actions required to attain a certain goal. Consider such a relatively routine behavior as typing a letter. When setting this activity as a goal, we anticipate the need to locate a typewriter, insert a sheet of paper, adjust the margins, formulate words and sentences, strike the appropriate keys, and so forth. Some parts of the plan are more routine, and require less conscious thought than others, but without an explicit or implicit plan to guide the required sequence of acts, no letter would get typed.

16,172 citations

"Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ..., Ajzen, 1985) focuses on instrumental motives and a subset of social motives. In short, this theory assumes that behaviour is dependent on people s intention (or: willingness) to act. The intention is dependent on people s attitudes, social norms and perceived behavioural control. For the purpose of our study, especially attitudes and social norms are important. Attitudes reflect the overall evaluation of the particular behaviour, and are based on expectancy beliefs about the likelihood that behaviour results in particular consequences, and of the desirability of those consequences. This measure has widely been used in studies aimed at explaining mode choices and car use (e.g., Bamberg and Schmidt, 1993, 2001, 2003; Heath and Gifford, 2002). Typically, these studies focused on the instrumental consequences of car use (cf. Steg et al., 2001). Social norms refer to the perceived social pressure to perform the behaviour, and are based on perceptions of expectations of relevant reference groups concerning the behaviour and the motivation to comply with these reference groups. Other measures of symbolic or social motives stem from the theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991), social comparison theory (e.g., Festinger, 1954; Masters and Smith, 1987), and self-presentation theory (e.g., Schlenker, 1980). The theory of normative conduct also focuses on the role of social norms. They distinguish two types of social norms: injunctive norms (comparable to norms as defined by Ajzen (1985)): perceptions of expectations of others) and descriptive norms (i....

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  • ...They distinguish two types of social norms: injunctive norms (comparable to norms as defined by Ajzen (1985)): perceptions of expectations of others) and descriptive norms (i.e., perceptions of what others actually do)....

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  • ...For example, the theory of planned behaviour (e.g., Ajzen, 1985) focuses on instrumental motives and a subset of social motives....

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  • ...The measure of the instrumental motives was based on attitude measures as proposed by the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985)....

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Book•
An approach to environmental psychology

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Albert Mehrabian, James A. Russell
01 Jan 1974
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed that environmental stimuli are linked to behavioral responses by the primary emotional responses of arousal, pleasure, and dominance, and used information rate to compare the effects of different environments, each with stimulation in many sense modalities.
Abstract: Environmental psychology, though a fast-growing field, is one of the most difficult to fit into the confines of scientific inquiry. Measuring such subjective data as reactions to color, heat, light, and sound would seem to be an almost impossible task; indeed, until now there has been no theory around which the research in this field could be organized. This volume represents a preliminary effort to identify the relevant variables involved and fit them into a systematic framework. Furthermore, it presents extensive sets of measures for investigating the theory and implementing it in a variety of everyday environments.Basically, the framework outlined here proposes that environmental stimuli are linked to behavioral responses by the primary emotional responses of arousal, pleasure, and dominance. By considering the impact of the environment on these basic emotional responses, the effects of diverse stimulus components within or across sense modalities can be readily compared. An additional concept, information rate, is used to compare the effects of different environments, each with stimulation in many sense modalities. In the final chapters the authors present a series of hypotheses which relate the emotional response variables to a diversity of behaviors such as physical approach, performance, affiliation, and verbally or nonverbally expressed preference.

5,419 citations

"Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...Affect was measured following Russell (e.g., Mehrabian and Russell, 1974; Russell and Lanius, 1984), who demonstrated that affective responses may be categorised on two dimensions: pleasure and arousal, i.e., all human emotions are based on a combination of pleasure and arousal....

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Book Chapter•DOI•
A Focus Theory of Normative Conduct: A Theoretical Refinement and Reevaluation of the Role of Norms in Human Behavior

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Robert B. Cialdini, Carl A. Kallgren, Raymond R. Reno
01 Jan 1991-Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
TL;DR: This chapter discusses those injunctive social norms—once activated—is likely to lead to beneficial social conduct across the greatest number of situations and populations.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on norms, which can be demonstrated to affect human action systematically and powerfully. Three distinct types of norms that are effective: social norms of the descriptive kind, which guides the behavior via the perception of how most others would behave; social norms of the injunctive kind, which guides the behavior via the perception of how most others would approve/disapprove of a person's conduct; and personal norms, which guides the behavior via the perception of how a person would approve/disapprove of his own conduct. At a given time, an individual's actions are likely to conform to the dictates of the type of norm that are familiar even when the other types of norms dictate contrary conduct. The chapter discusses those injunctive social norms—once activated—is likely to lead to beneficial social conduct across the greatest number of situations and populations. By focusing subjects on one or another type of norm, the action of a particular kind of norm was stimulated, without activating the other kinds.

2,322 citations

"Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...Other measures of symbolic or social motives stem from the theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991), social comparison theory (e.g., Festinger, 1954; Masters and Smith, 1987), and self-presentation theory (e.g., Schlenker, 1980)....

    [...]

  • ...Measures for symbolic motives were based on social comparison theory (e.g., Festinger, 1954), self-presentation theory (e.g., Schlenker, 1980), and the theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991)....

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Book•
Impression Management: The Self-Concept, Social Identity, and Interpersonal Relations

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Barry R. Schlenker
01 Jun 1980

1,931 citations

"Car use: lust and must. Instrumenta..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...Other measures of symbolic or social motives stem from the theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991), social comparison theory (e.g., Festinger, 1954; Masters and Smith, 1987), and self-presentation theory (e.g., Schlenker, 1980)....

    [...]

  • ...Measures for symbolic motives were based on social comparison theory (e.g., Festinger, 1954), self-presentation theory (e.g., Schlenker, 1980), and the theory of normative conduct (Cialdini et al., 1991)....

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Related Papers (5)
The theory of planned behavior

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01 Dec 1991-Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
Icek Ajzen
'Complacent Car Addicts' or 'Aspiring Environmentalists'? Identifying travel behaviour segments using attitude theory

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01 Jan 2005-Transport Policy
Jillian Anable
Understanding attitudes towards public transport and private car: A qualitative study

[...]

01 Nov 2007-Transport Policy
Gabriela Beirão, J. Sarsfield Cabral
How derived is the demand for travel? some conceptual and measurement considerations

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01 Sep 2001-Transportation Research Part A-policy and Practice
Patricia L. Mokhtarian, Ilan Salomon
Incentives, Morality, Or Habit? Predicting Students’ Car Use for University Routes With the Models of Ajzen, Schwartz, and Triandis:

[...]

01 Mar 2003-Environment and Behavior
Sebastian Bamberg, Peter Schmidt