Purpose Despite electric vehicles (EVs) gaining traction among youth, significant barriers such as high initial costs and limited infrastructure hinder widespread adoption. The purpose of this study is to investigate how intrinsic psychological constructs green self-identity, national identity and perceived self-image jointly shape green consumer identity. These factors further influence the willingness to buy EVs. This study also examines the mediating roles of brand trust and consumer attitude and the moderating effects of gender and EV ownership status. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a multi-stage stratified sampling technique. Responses were collected from 773 participants across India. Multi-group analysis was conducted to explore the moderating impact of gender (male vs female) and EV ownership (owners of non-EVs vs EVs) on the proposed model. Findings The findings of this study reveal that green self-identity, national identity and perceived self-image have a great impact on the development of green consumer identity. This identity in turn has a positive impact on consumers’ purchase intention of EVs. Brand trust and attitude serve as the partial mediators of the relationship, implying their importance in promoting EV adoption. Multi-group analysis further confirms that both gender and EV ownership moderate the strength of these associations. Originality/value The novelty of this study is to provide insights by merging social and psychological dimensions into the EV adoption research. This study extends existing models by highlighting the interplay between consumer identity, trust and attitude and underscores the importance of tailoring policies based on demographic and ownership characteristics to foster sustainable mobility transitions.
Sahoo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.