Integrating smart mobility and electric car sharing adoption in a common framework: Antecedents and mediators

The present research set out to provide an answer to various calls for further analysis of the car sharing consumer behavior. In this sense, the investigation has advanced an integrative conceptual model by studying the antecedents of electric car sharing adoption, based on two general attitudinal influencers environmental consciousness and technology embracement and two mediators – the perceived benefits of car sharing and the importance attached to smart mobility. The empirical undertaking relied on a questionnaire-based survey with 399 Romanian respondents from generation Z. According to the findings, the proposed model has confirmed a substantive effect of environmental consciousness and technology embracement on smart mobility and a less powerful effect of the latter on electric car sharing adoption. The results have both theoretical and practical implications given that achieving a paradigm shift towards smart mobility and electric car sharing adoption requires substantial changes in social habits and orientation, as well as attitudinal transformations in terms of environmental and technological dynamics. The study originally contributes to the extant literature by interrelating different attitudinal factors as relevant drivers for car sharing adoption within a comprehensive framework. From a practical perspective, while focusing on electric car sharing from a context-driven angle, the investigation adds knowledge about the behavioral intentions for car sharing usage in a country where the phenomenon is yet to develop. In this sense, the findings support providers of car sharing services and authorities in their promotion strategies regarding car sharing services as a form of sustainable transportation apposite for smart cities.