Institute of Transportation, MOTC

         Electric scooter (e-scooter) has been regarded as a cleaner alternative compared to traditional gasoline scooter to mitigate the environmental impact contributed by the transport sector. However, the adoption rate of e-scooter is not as expected in Taiwan in the past decade through the marketing emphasis on environmental benefits and financial incentive to adopt e-scooter. Obviously, the eco-friendly feature of e-scooter is not necessary to trigger the actual adoption behavior. Thus, searching for an effective and innovative marketing strategy is important to achieve the goal of sustainability.
       This study casts light on an innovative e-scooter brand which has grasped a significant market share of e-scooter in Taiwan through its brand positioning on “smart two-wheels”. Hence, the purpose of the present study is to explore the role of three kinds of value-in-use (namely functional, symbolic and ecological value) and its three antecedents (i.e. brand authenticity, perceived coolness and customer engagement) as well as the consequences (brand loyalty) for e-scooter adopters. To test the hypotheses in the proposed model, structural equation modeling is performed for analyzing survey data from 571 e-scooter users in Taiwan. Results show that brand authenticity and customer engagement are positively related to three types of value-in-use. Perceived coolness is positively related to symbolic and ecological value but not functional value. Functional and symbolic value have a significant positive effect on brand loyalty while ecological value has not a significant effect on brand loyalty. At last, this study will discuss related implications and suggestions for future research.