Bilge KARAMEHMET

Esma MORGÜL

Electric vehicles become a widespread technology all over the world and they are expected to be one of the popular technologies in near future. Consumers will prefer electric vehicles not only an ecological option among automobiles, but they also provide very good performance and fuel cost efficiency. In spite of this growing market, there is a lack of research has been done in this area. This study provides a comprehensive literature review on the basis of international and national researches, and suggestions according to these researches for the purpose of promoting electric vehicles in Turkey. Cultural differences, environmental concerns, and socio-economic factors might be effective on consumer preferences about electric vehicles. Furthermore, knowledge level of consumers is still so low; especially the issues related to usage and technical differences between electric vehicle types. According to the past studies, awareness and knowledge are the most urgent problems that need to be solved with some promotion tools. Infrastructural facilities such as charging stations also need to be increased in number and performance. Promotion activities should focus on spreading environmental awareness and cost efficiency. Beside that, automobile brands should provide more electric vehicle options and add these options to their marketing strategies. This study suggests that empirical studies about understanding consumer preferences needs to be widen for determining the cultural differences and raising awareness about environmental concerns, and as the most important consequence; spreading the awareness of electric vehicles.

Keywords: electric vehicles, marketing, consumer preferences, green marketing, sustainability