The Study Of The Impact Of Domestic Gasoline Price Changes On Consumers' Behaviors

With the rapid development of China's economy and society and the continuous improvement of people's living standards,the number of private cars in China has increased rapidly,and it has also caused a substantial increase in gasoline consumption.The consumption and use of vehicles and gasoline has become an important part of Chinese residents' regular life and an important component of household expenditures.People are still very concerned about and very sensitive to gasoline prices.One day before the rise of gasoline price,there was always a long queue of people waiting to be refueled at major gas stations.Based on this,from the perspective of behavioral economics,this article deeply explores the impact of domestic gasoline price changes on consumer behavior.On the basis of demand price elasticity theory and consumer behavior theory,this paper proposed a motivation-individuality-response(MIR)model to analyze the relationship between the external stimulus(gasoline price changes),the psychological factor of consumer(individuality)and the outcome response(consumer behavior).By using a novel comprehensive analysis approach based on a social network-based public survey and a questionnaire-based individual survey,this article conducted a deeply analysis of how consumers respond to gasoline price changes.Firstly,we analyze the current status of domestic consumers' perception and attitude towards gasoline price changes through the graphical display of public-level social media data and individual-level questionnaire survey data.Secondly,a descriptive analysis of the questionnaire data shows consumers' behavioral responses to gasoline price changes.Finally,using the orderly logistic model regression analysis,we assess the impact of retail gasoline price changes on personal vehicle-using behavior and vehicle-purchasing behavior from the perspective of flexibility,and further explore the role of individual psychological factors "individuality" in the process.It turns out that the public's attention to oil prices always follows changes in gasoline prices.When the gasoline price suddenly rises or falls,the public's attitude changes more obviously.However,as gasoline price continues to rise or fall,the public's attitude will gradually become neutral.In general,consumers have a moderate level of perception of domestic gasoline price changes,a biased negative attitude towards the current gasoline price level,and a moderate degree of trust in the government's adjustment of gasoline price.And most consumers choose to change their behavior within a price change range of 20%-60%.The most popular alternative for driving of consumers is to take the subway or bus.Moreover,the gasoline price rise will cause car owners to reduce their vehicle-driving behavior,but as the gasoline price rising range increases,it will gradually reduce the willingness of car owners to reduce their vehicle-driving intention,and in this influencing process,the car owner's psychological factor "individuality" plays a mediating role.There is no significant correlation between the gasoline price changes and the vehicle-purchasing behavior of individuals(both car owners and potential car owners).The vehicle-purchasing behavior of car owners is significantly affected by their attention to gasoline price,their attitude and their environmental awareness.In addition,the MIR model proposed in this paper has gained a higher applicability in analyzing the car owner's vehicle-using behavior.This study provides a deeper understanding of consumer responses to gasoline price movements in China,and developed a theoretical,decision support tool that could be useful for social science research.The proposed MIR model and multi-methods-based analytical approach could be applied to a wide range of energy-economy–environmental systems research.