Electric vehicles for cleaner urban logistics: what motivates consumers to choose green delivery?

Abstract

The rapid expansion of e-commerce has intensified pressures on urban logistics and last-mile logistics flows. This study examines psychological drivers of consumers’ intention to select electric vehicle based last-mile logistics within a green logistics flow perspective, integrating the Value-Belief-Norm and Theory of Planned Behavior frameworks. We explicitly frame the problem as reducing the environmental burden of material, information, and financial flows in the last mile while maintaining service quality; the goal is to identify value- and norm-based antecedents that strengthen intentions to choose electric vehicle delivery services. Using a structured survey (n = 618) and PLS-SEM, results show altruistic and biospheric values shape ecological worldviews, which activate perceived adverse consequences and ascription of responsibility, forming pro-environmental personal norms that raise attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, thereby increasing behavioral intention toward electric vehicle delivery. This study contributes by theorizing electric vehicle (EV) adoption as a green logistics flow decision rather than a matter of personal mobility, integrating value-to-norm pathways with the flow management requirements of last-mile logistics operations, and proposing actionable strategies for logistics providers to design value-aligned nudges and communicate flow efficiency with lower emissions