Does transport behavior influence preferences for electromobility? An analysis based on person- and alternative-specific error components

The interconnection among different choices by the same decision-maker is fairly well established in the literature. Along this line, this paper aims to identify how preferences for electromobility are affected by mode choices for regular trips. With this purpose in mind, a framework based on person- and alternative-specific error components (covariances) is proposed. The method aims to include individual-specific error components associated with the alternatives of a given experiment into another, and to analyze how the preference for a certain alternative in a given choice situation affects the individual's preferences in another choice situation. The data for the analysis originates from two discrete choice experiment conducted in Austria during February 2013 (representative sample). Here, individuals were asked to state their preferences in the contexts of transport mode choice and vehicle purchase situations. The results indicate the existenceof a strong correlation between the individuals' preferences in both experiments. This way, individuals favoring private transport also favor conventional vehicles over electric alternatives, while individuals preferring public or non-motorized modes ascribe a higher utility to electric vehicles, especially to pure battery electric vehicles.