Semiotics and Advanced Vehicles: What Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) Mean and Why it Matters to Consumers By REID RUSSELL HEFFNER B.A. (Colgate University) 1993 M.B.A. (Georgetown University) 1997 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Transportation Technology and Policy in the OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES of the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS Approved: _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ Committee in Charge 2007 i SEMIOTICS AND ADVANCED VEHICLES: What Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) Mean and Why it Matters to Consumers ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study addresses the relationship between image and car purchases. Image, defined as the associations linked to a product or brand name (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2000) is often cited as influential in automobile purchases. But relatively little research has been conducted into what image is or why it is important to consumers. This study focused on the image of a particular vehicle: the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). The objective was to understand how buyers of HEVs perceived the image of their vehicles, and the role image played in buyers’ purchase decisions. In this analysis of the image of HEVs, I applied theory from semiotics: the study of symbols. Outlined in Chapter 2, this theory includes Saussure’s (1965) dyadic model in which a symbol consists of a signifier (such as an HEV) and a signified concept (such as the idea of environmental preservation.) In Saussure’s model, a given signifier can be connected with numerous signified concepts (also called meanings). Thus, an automobile can have many meanings associated with it. Barthes (1967) divides these meanings into two types: denotations, which are obvious and widely-recognized, and connotations, which are more personal and idiosyncratic. Saussure (1965) also observes that some signifiers are collections of other signifiers. In this case, a main signifier (called a syntagm) can be parsed into other signifiers (called paradigms), each of which has separate meanings associated with it. For example, a Mercedes SUV may be connected to the meanings of affluence and adventurousness: the iii meaning of affluence is linked to the Mercedes brand (brand paradigm), while the meaning of adventurousness is linked to the SUV vehicle type (vehicle type paradigm). McCracken (1988a) and Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) explain that consumer goods such as automobiles have meanings attached to them. In Chapter 2, I outline an approach called Products as Self-Creation in which individuals use the meaning in automobiles (and other products) in two ways. In the first, called Project of the Self, individuals use product meaning to define and express who they are. Project of the Self is based on theory from Giddens (1991) who proposes that modern life requires individuals to engage in constant definition and maintenance of their self-identities. Giddens states that at the core of each person’s identity lies a self-narrative, a story the individual tells about himself through regimes (habits or behaviors) and lifestyle (an integrated set of regimes). Project of the Self is also based on theory from Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) who define a similar identity-creation process they call cultivation. In this process, individuals interact with product meanings in two ways. Recognition involves attaching a culturally-assigned meaning, while perception involves developing an individualized meaning. The second way individuals use product meaning is called Project of Culture, a process in which people influence social systems around them. Project of Culture occurs when individuals become aware of what Giddens (1991) calls life politics: the effects that their lifestyle choices have on others. Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981, p. 192) explain that individuals use meaning to influence social systems in order to realize goals iv that are larger than themselves, including goals related to their social networks (called social goals) as well as goals related to “the larger harmony of things,” called cosmic goals. To explore the meanings consumers recognize and perceive in HEVs, this study used qualitative methods within an interpretivist research paradigm. These methods are outlined in Chapter 3. Specifically, I conducted ethnographic interviews based on McCracken’s (1988b) long interview technique. For the first two study phases, data was collected in in-home ethnographic interviews with households; in the third phase, a combination of ethnographic interviews and phone interviews were used. In total, 68 interviews were conducted that included a total of 91 participants. Interviews were followed by analysis that included the development of semiotic maps for selected households. Research was conducted in three Phases. Phase I focused on buyers of high-fuel- economy HEVs, such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid. The objective was to understand what meanings these buyers perceived in their HEVs and to assess the role of these meanings in the vehicle purchase. Phase II examined buyers of performance HEVs (such as the Honda Accord Hybrid) and sport-utility vehicle (SUV) HEVs (such as the Ford Escape Hybrid). The goal was to understand what meanings these buyers perceived in their HEVs, and whether they were similar to those meanings identified in Phase I. Phase III concentrated on initial users of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) v conversions. The objective was to understand the meanings PHEV drivers assigned to their vehicles as well as to explore how these new vehicles were being used. In Chapter 4, I outline the symbolic meanings that the study’s HEV owners attached to their vehicles. Buyers of both high-fuel-economy HEVs and performance/SUV HEVs saw meaning in their vehicles. In fact, both groups associated the same set of meanings with their HEVs. These meanings included both denotations and connotations, and are summarized in Figure A-1. An important finding from this study was that the denotations REDUCE PRESERVE THE MANAGE PERSONAL EMBRACE NEW Denotations OPPOSE WAR SUPPORT TO OIL ENVIRONMENT FINANCES TECHNOLOGY PRODUCERS ETHICS CONCERN FOR MATURITY / PERSONAL OTHERS SENSIBILITY INDIVIDUALITY INDEPENDENCE Connotations COMMUNITY ETHICS ETHICS ADVOCATE TO NATIONAL ORIENTATION MANUFACTURERS INTELLIGENCE / INDEPENDENCE INTELLIGENCE / AWARENESS AWARENESS Figure A-1: The Meanings of HEVs Among the Sample Households that are commonly associated with HEVs are not the only meanings present in the vehicles. Connotations also exist, and provide an important link between the vehicle and the buyer’s identity. For example, the HEV is connected to the denotation of environmental preservation, and many HEV buyers interested in defining themselves as people who care about the environment. But these buyers are also interested to the connotations that connect to the environmental denotation. That is, they also want to define themselves as ethical people who care about others, individuals who believe in vi working collectively to resolve societal and global issues, or as intelligent, aware people who seek creative solutions to pressing problems. The HEV owners in this study purchased more than transportation in their HEVs; they also bought meanings that were used in the development of their self-identities and to change social systems around them. Chapter 5 shows how two households (one from each of the first two research phases) used their HEVs in a Project of the Self and Project of Culture. These owners’ stories illustrate the challenges individuals face in constructing their self-narratives. In particular, these examples highlight the diverse elements individuals attempt to integrate into their identities and the role of vehicle meaning in this process. For example, one owner wanted to define herself as a community-oriented person who did what was right for society, even if it involved consuming less of the things she enjoyed. But she also wanted to define herself as a financially-successful businessperson who had earned the right to consume whatever goods she wished. She considered both of these competing self-narrative elements as she shopped for vehicles and evaluated the meanings in the HEV. For this owner, the Honda Accord Hybrid offered meanings that tied both of these self-narrative elements together. Her HEV was a near-luxury model that communicated her financial and professional status, but also had an efficient hybrid powertrain that connected with the denotation of environmental preservation and the connotation of community-orientation. Chapter 5 illustrates the complex process HEV owners undergo in crafting self-identity, a process that dispels the myth of HEV buyers as people who simply want to “show off” superficial green vii credentials. The two examples in Chapter 5 also demonstrate how the HEV is as much an identity solution as a transportation solution. In Chapter 4, I explored one half of the HEV symbol: the meanings. In Chapter 6, I examine the other element: the signifier. When conducting interviews in Phase I, I assumed that the HEV was a single, unified signifier. However, in Phase II many households introduced meanings that were not related to the “hybridness” of their vehicles. For example, one owner attached the meaning of professional success to his Honda Accord Hybrid. This meaning did not relate to the fact that the vehicle was a hybrid, but rather