Charging stations (CSs) are supporting infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), and their electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) may influence EV adoption. This research investigates the impact of CS eWOM on EV registration rate and the varying effects of charging service attributes using over 246,700 U.S. online reviews from 2019 to 2023. Applying a spatial autoregressive (SAR) model, we find that CS eWOM valence promotes EV registration rates with a positive spatial spillover effect, whereas CS eWOM volume has the opposite effect. In areas with more direct current (DC) chargers, user check-ins and broadband subscriptions, the positive effect of CS eWOM valence is stronger, and the negative impact of volume is weaker. Additionally, this study provides attribute-level insights into the effects of CS eWOM. The topic model identifies Facility as the key attribute for current EV owners, while attribute-based estimates indicate that Location -related eWOM has the strongest impact on potential consumers.
Lv et al. (Tue,) studied this question.