| dc.description.abstract | Over the past few years there has been an increase in the amount of consumers that choose to drive an electric car in their everyday lives. Economic and psychological models dominate large segments of research associated with this topic and these models are based on whether or not the choice of driving an electric car is individual. Thus, these models do not take into account social and contextual factors. In this thesis I wish to investigate how the social aspect can affect whether or not a consumer chooses to drive an electric car in a Norwegian context.Within sociology there is not much research around this topic. This thesis investigates the causes of motivation for Norwegian car owners to drive electric cars, and inspects how they justify their choices in a Norwegian context. I am interested in how the social aspect can affect what type of electric car a consumer chooses, and whether or not they want to drive an electric car at all. I wish to investigate what type of situations consumers can experience and which preferences are important when a consumer buys an electric car. The consumer understanding of the incentives put through by the Norwegian government is also something I wish to inspect. The thesis’ theoretical framework consists of theoretical perspectives which investigate the use of an electric car based on a practical matter and symbolic values, in addition to how the distribution of technology between consumers take place.This analysis is based on qualitative interviews with eleven car owners, which either drive an electric car or a fossil fuel car. In this study, I found that the choice of driving an electric car is complex and is determined by several factors. These factors include an interest for technology, the electric cars driving comfort, and economical savings when driving an electric car. In addition, incentives play a role in the decision of purchasing an electric car. Interviewed owners of electric car that have been purchased within the past two to three years emphasize its physical qualities and practical solutions. In this thesis, electric car owners that have owned an electric car for over ten years have a tendency to emphasize the symbolic value when it comes to being in possession of such a car. This study based on interviews of eleven persons finds that social aspects may have affected whether or not a person chooses to drive an electric car. | en_US |
