Consumer Segmentation and Market Analysis for Sustainable Marketing Strategy of Electric Vehicles in the Philippines

Despite the steady rise of electric vehicles (EVs) in other countries, the Philippines has yet to capitalize on its proliferation due to several mixed concerns. Status, socio-demographic characteristics, and availability have been the main concerns with purchasing EVs in the country. Consumer segmentation and analysis for EV acceptance and utility in the Philippines were determined in this study due to the need for understanding consumer preferences and market segmentation towards EVs in the Philippines. A total of 311 valid responses coming from EV owners were collected through purposive and snowball sampling approaches. The data were collected via face-to-face distribution and online distribution of a questionnaire covering demographic characteristics for market segmentation. Demographic data such as gender, age, residence type, car ownership, and income were used to identify consumer segments using the K-means clustering approach. Jupyter Notebook v7.1.3 was used for the overall analysis, and the number of clusters was optimized, ensuring precise segmentation. The results indicated a strong correlation between car ownership and the ability to purchase EVs, where K-means clustering effectively identified consumer groups. The groupings also included "Not Capable at All" to "Highly Capable" individuals based on their likelihood to purchase EVs. Based on the results, the core-value customers of EVs are male, older than 55 years old, live in urban areas, own a vehicle and car insurance, and have a monthly income of more than PHP 130,000. Following those are high-value customers, considered target users expected to use EVs frequently. It could be posited that customers are frequent purchasers of products and services. Based on the results, high-value customers are male, aged 36-45 years old, live in urban areas, own a car, have car insurance, and have a monthly income of PHP 100,001-130,000. Both of these should be highly considered by EV industries, as these characteristics would be the driving market of EVs in the Philippines. The constructed segmentation provided valuable insights for the EV industry, academic institutions, and policymakers, offering a foundation for targeted marketing strategies and promoting EV adoption in the Philippines. Moreover, the sustainable marketing strategies developed could be adopted and extended among other developing countries wanting to adopt EVs for utility. Future works are also suggested based on the study limitations for researchers to consider as study extensions, such as a holistic approach to EV adoption that considers environmental, social, and economic factors, as well as policies and promotion development.