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In times of product-harm crises, the involved firms always employ some countermeasures, such as releasing messages relevant to their response actions. To evaluate the influence of these messages on the perceptions and behavioral responses of corporate customers relative to the recalls, we conducted a case study of the Volkswagen automobile recall in China in 2013. Guided by the protective action decision model, we developed a conceptual model to first study customers’ responses to the recall crisis. Based on this model, we further examined the influence of two types of firm actions, namely technical and ceremonial, on the customer crisis-coping process. Results show that product experience, risk perception, and information seeking significantly influence customers’ behavioral intentions during the product recall crisis. Customers in the technical action group exhibit a higher level of risk perception based on their product experience and have a higher likelihood of seeking information. However, information seeking fails to influence their behavioral intentions. Ceremonial actions overcome the disadvantages of technical actions, but customers’ lack of solution information should be met. In this sense, crisis-involved firms are encouraged to employ a combination strategy including the implementation of the two types of firm actions and then promptly release the messages containing both actions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The main goal of this paper is to analyse the connotation of ‘regional innovation environment’ and explore the relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency (IE). Three regional environmental factors were extracted, namely, economic infrastructure (EI), the quality and structure of innovators (QSI) and regional openness (RO). The relationships between the regional innovation environmental components and innovation efficiency present a chain structure as RO–EI–QSI–IE. Only the QSI component affects IE directly, and all of the effects are positive. Based on these results, the characteristics of Chinese regional innovation systems were analysed, and the implications on science & technology policy were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Carbon emission reduction could be achieved through extensive cooperation between relevant groups such as businesses, governments and consumers. Generally, carbon emissions stem from consumer behaviour. To tackle the increasingly serious energy crisis and climate change in China, it is thus vital to control carbon emissions generated by the country's urban consumers. From a consumption perspective, we utilize a self-organizing feature map model to analyse the spatial differentiation of per capita embedded carbon footprint (ECF) in urban China. We found that the spatial differentiation is significant with the per capita ECF of the east coastal area at a high level and that per capita disposable income is the key factor affecting ECF. Based on these findings, potential business opportunities to develop low-carbon products are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to explore the relationships between electric vehicle (EV)-related information (e.g., environmentally friendly information and performance and attribute information) and consumers' perceptions (perceived value and perceived trust) of EVs and adoption intentions. Based on survey data from 343 respondents, this research indicated that environmentally friendly information and performance and attribute information regarding EVs are positively associated with consumers' perceived value and perceived trust of EVs. However, the positive relationships between environmentally friendly information and performance and attribute information and consumers' perceived value and perceived trust are dependent on information quality. Information quality positively moderates and strengthens the relationships between EV-related information and perceived value and perceived trust. In addition, perceived value and perceived trust are positively associated with consumers' intentions to adopt EVs. On the basis of the research findings, policy implications and suggestions to further promote EVs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric vehicles (EVs) are recognized as one of the effective measures to realize sustainable transport. Therefore, many countries have issued related policy initiatives and measures to promote EVs. However, consumer's cognition and acceptance of EVs is not ideal, which affects the early diffusion speed of EVs on the market. This research attempts to explore how consumer's driving experience affects EVs adoption intention from the perspective of consumer's emotional response (satisfaction and trust) by using stimulus-organism-response framework. Based on the analysis of 692 sample data collected through questionnaire survey, we found that consumer's driving experience has a significant and positive impact on EVs adoption intention. Meanwhile, driving experience also significantly and positively affects consumer's satisfaction while has no significant effect on trust. Furthermore, satisfaction has a significantly positive effect on trust, and satisfaction and trust are both significantly and positively associated with EVs adoption intention. The results further uncovered that satisfaction not only plays a mediating role between driving experience and adoption intention but also plays a multiple mediating role between driving experience and adoption intention together with trust. On this basis, relevant recommendations have been made to promote the development of EVs from the perspective of government and enterprise.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are known to be effective in reducing dependence on fossil fuels, in turn reducing the emission of greenhouse gas and other pollutants. To promote EVs, considerable efforts and measures have been taken. However, the public's awareness and acceptance of EVs are still low, which has affected the diffusion of EVs in the market. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, this research aims to explore how consumers' EV driving experience (S) affects their emotions and cognitions regarding EVs (O: perceived relative advantage, perceived ease of use, and perceived risk of EVs) and then activates their intentions to adopt EVs (R). Based on survey data from 692 respondents, the results suggested that consumers' EV driving experience has a significantly positive effect on perceived relative advantage and perceived ease of use, and then perceived relative advantage and perceived ease of use positively affect consumers' intentions to adopt EVs. The EV driving experience negatively affects perceived risk, and perceived risk is also negatively associated with EV adoption intentions. Furthermore, consumers' EV driving experience also has a significant direct effect on EV adoption intentions. Based on the research results, relevant recommendations and suggestions have been proposed to promote EVs from the government and enterprise perspectives.

Motivating residents to deliver environmental complaints is beneficial for environmental authorities to help them manage environmental issues and alleviate the adverse effects caused by climate change. The major aim of the present study is to understand how climate-change information and residents' health-risk perceptions (both physical and mental dimensions) affect residents' environmental complaint behavior. The research framework was developed according to planned behavior theory, risk perception behavior and information behavior models. This framework was empirically assessed by employing questionnaire survey data gathered from 1273 respondents in China. The results indicate that climate-change information and residents' health-risk perceptions have all significantly positive effects on residents' attitudes toward environmental complaints and their intention to submit environmental complaints. Meanwhile, residents' health-risk perception is also positively affected by climate-change information. Mental health-risk perception plays a much stronger role in determining a residents' attitude and intention to submit an environmental complaint than does physical health-risk perception. Furthermore, attitude toward environmental complaint, perceived behavioral control and subjective norm all have significantly positive effects on a residents' intention to submit an environmental complaint. Additionally, this study also addresses the intention-behavior gap and suggests a positive relationship between intention and behavior. The present study may provide some practical implications to motivate residents to submit environmental complaints.