Whenever a new technology or product innovation enters the market the level of consumer acceptability will be a crucial factor in determining how successful it will be. It is quiet common to hear stories of success by budding entrepreneurs who entered the market with nothing but a good idea and a lot of determination and ended up making it big. Stories on product and technology failure are much less common with people and firms less keen to comment on their inability to succeed in making their new product or technology triumphant. This part of the product lifecycle is often overlooked and companies and individuals do not investigating these aspects to a high degree. Indeed it can be this lack of assessment that leads to a new product or technology not being widely accepted by consumers.
In relation to the introduction of LEVs into the automotive market it is important for manufacturers to investigate what are the likely hindrances to consumer acceptance. These rejection scenarios happen when consumers appraise a new vehicle for its suitability according to a set performance criteria and deem the product unsatisfactory. These scenarios will happen throughout the purchasing process and will entail both absolute appraisals where vehicles are required to pass specific levels of acceptability and also relative appraisals where multiple vehicles are compared simultaneously against a set criterion.
