Sustainability Concerns and Electric Vehicle Adoption in an Emerging Market: Evidence from Morocco

In recent years, emerging economies have intensified their efforts to promote sustainable mobility as part of global decarbonization strategies. Although Morocco has made substantial investments in renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, domestic EV adoption remains modest, revealing a structural gap between industrial capacity and consumer uptake. Identifying the behavioral and value-based determinants of EV adoption is therefore essential for accelerating sustainable transport transitions. Building on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) theory, this study integrates sustainability-related values, moral responsibility, perceived behavioral control, and institutional trust within a unified behavioral framework to explain EV adoption intention in Morocco. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 223 Moroccan consumers aged 18–55. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that perceived environmental benefits, moral responsibility, perceived behavioral control, and institutional trust significantly influence EV adoption intention. Environmental awareness was not statistically significant in this sample and model, whereas subjective norms and awareness of government incentives did not exert significant effects. The proposed model explains 66.4% of the variance in adoption intention.