Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are gaining popularity globally as green and active modes of transport. Research on e-bike adoption to date has predominantly investigated various extrinsic motivations to use an e-bike, and little is known about the psychological influences. Examining the influence of psychological determinants is crucial to comprehend the unobserved individual and social factors affecting e-bike adoption. This study aims to determine the sociopsychological influences associated with e-bike use among the daily commuters (employees) of two university campuses in India which represent self-reliant societies. The study extends the classic Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework to account for influences like personal norms, knowledge of e-bikes, and parking anxiety, in addition to fundamental TPB constructs (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control). Results are constructed by a structural equation model (SEM) for a sample of 347 non-users of e-bikes. SEM model indicates that among all TPB constructs, subjective norms are the strongest predictors of intentions to use e-bikes. Both subjective norms and attitudes have a significant positive effect on adoption intentions, whereas perceived behavioural control has a significant negative effect. Personal norms had significant indirect positive effects on e-bike use intentions with fundamental TPB constructs as mediators. Interestingly, parking anxiety (anxiety from missing the car parking spaces) positively, and knowledge of e-bikes negatively influence the e-bike adoption intentions. Further, comparison by psychological influences reveals that a significant difference exists between the perceptions of the two university commuters towards e-bike use, possibly due to the distinct terrain and climate characteristics of the universities. The study findings have implications for designing effective e-bike interventions and awareness programs seeking to promote e-bike adoption, particularly in self-reliant communities.

中文翻译：

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自力更生的社会可以成为电动自行车的潜在采用者吗？研究印度大学员工社会心理影响的作用


电动自行车（e-bike）作为绿色、活跃的交通方式在全球范围内越来越受欢迎。迄今为止，关于电动自行车采用的研究主要调查了使用电动自行车的各种外在动机，而对其心理影响知之甚少。检查心理决定因素的影响对于理解影响电动自行车采用的未观察到的个人和社会因素至关重要。本研究旨在确定印度两所大学校园代表自力更生社会的日常通勤者（员工）与电动自行车使用相关的社会心理影响。该研究扩展了经典的计划行为理论 (TPB) 框架，除了基本的 TPB 结构（态度、主观规范和感知行为控制）之外，还考虑了个人规范、电动自行车知识和停车焦虑等影响。结果是通过结构方程模型 (SEM) 针对 347 名非电动自行车用户的样本构建的。 SEM 模型表明，在所有 TPB 构造中，主观规范是使用电动自行车意图的最强预测因素。主观规范和态度对收养意愿均具有显着的正向影响，而感知行为控制则具有显着的负向影响。个人规范对电动自行车使用意图具有显着的间接积极影响，以基本 TPB 结构作为中介。有趣的是，停车焦虑（因错过停车位而产生的焦虑）对电动自行车的采用意愿产生积极影响，而对电动自行车的了解则对电动自行车的采用意愿产生消极影响。 此外，心理影响的比较表明，两所大学通勤者对电动自行车使用的看法存在显着差异，这可能是由于大学独特的地形和气候特征所致。研究结果对于设计有效的电动自行车干预措施和意识计划具有重要意义，旨在促进电动自行车的采用，特别是在自力更生的社区。