ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY REPLACEMENT OF AUTOMOBILES

A telephone survey of 100 automobile owners was undertaken. One aim wa s to determine whether the timing of replacement purchases is related to the difference between an owner's assessment of the current quality of their automobile and their aspiration level. Another aim was to in vestigate whether information indicating that either early or late rep lacement is better for the environment affects the timing of replaceme nt through an influence on the aspiration level. Sets of path analyses confirmed that replacement purchase intention was causally related to the current level and the aspiration level. An indirect effect of inf ormation was furthermore observed through changes in the aspiration le vel. Degree of environmental concern tended to modify this effect. Rep lacement purchase intention was found to predict actual purchase.