1. Introduction
The International Energy Agency (IEA) issued in a report that fuel transportation, including cars, light trucks and heavy-duty trucks, are the largest source of greenhouse gases emission [
1]. Global warming and energy shortages have become one of major environmental problems which arouse considerable attention of international community and academic world. To address the carbon dioxide emission problem, electric vehicles have been widely recognized as an essential part for sustainable development and a clean energy future [
2]. Although subsidies for electric vehicles apparently boost the development of the industry, on the other hand, subsidies also breed corruption and fraudulent behaviors in some places; thus, recently, lots of governments have halted subsidies for the electric vehicle industry [
3]. The dwindling subsidies are taking the shine off the electric vehicles industry and force the industry to accelerate the process of marketization [
4]. Compared with traditional worldwide well-known automobile brands and joint venture brands, the competitiveness of China’s domestic automotive brands is still very limited [
5]. However, electric vehicles present a great opportunity for China to compete with foreign automotive brands on the same development level; therefore, the successful commercialization of electric vehicles is of strategic significance for China’s automotive brands to overtake foreign competitors [
6].
In recent years, since the competition of electric vehicle brands is just beginning, the entire industry is gearing up for the challenge. The industry transition puts all the automotive brands on same starting line and who will take the lead in the race is still up in the air [
7]. Startups such as Tesla, Geely and Weilai do not have a big dealership network, entrenched unions or a legacy business to manage, which are major advantages over traditional automotive brands [
8]. Traditional automakers cannot stop selling internal combustion engine cars and it is a very costly exercise for them to get into the electric vehicle space in a big way. The risk and cost transfer that comes with the purchase of a traditional car under the current dominating business models are not well suited for electric vehicles [
9]. Extant literature on electric vehicles business model mainly focused on the relationship between car adoption and different business models [
10,
11,
12,
13]. Extant studies mainly divided the business models of new energy vehicle into three categories: buying model, leasing model and sharing model [
14,
15,
16]. Subsequently, scholars have conducted empirical studies on the relationship between customer adoption and three different business models. Liao examined consumers’ reaction towards the battery and vehicle leasing model by conducting a stated choice experiment; the results show that the leasing model could apparently increase car adoption only for certain consumers in terms of their individual characteristics [
17]. Huang compared key features of buying model, leasing model and sharing model of electric vehicle industry [
18]. In addition, customers’ adoptive preferences for three different business models were empirically analyzed [
19]. Studies have shown that innovative business model for electric vehicles may reduce the adoption costs and create greater customer value [
20]. Furthermore, some scholars are engaging in how to innovate the electric vehicle business model, that is, how to design a business model which will suit the EV industry well. D.F. Botelho fully analyzed the value proposition, value creation and value capture of an innovative business model [
21]. Victor Nian proposed a new business model which is able to benefit all stakeholders in the ecosystem of electric vehicles [
15].
Extant research mostly conducted empirical analysis of consumer preferences for electric vehicles buying model, leasing model and sharing model [
22,
23,
24], the high-end EV sales business model has been largely overlooked. With the rapid development of cloud computing, 5G and mobile broadband technology, the success of an electric vehicle brand not only relies on higher products quality and lower price, but also needs to reshape a totally new and competitive business model which is suitable to meet consumers’ growing needs [
25]. In this regard, most well-known automotive enterprises, such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Tesla and Weilai, choose to lay out the future of the automobile industry by starting a high-end EV sales business model [
26]. Unlike the traditional business model of automotive brands, the newly emerged high-end EV sales business model put more effort into product marketing and after-sale services, rather than mainly focusing on product manufacturing and distribution [
27]. In addition, previous studies tended to only focus on the instrumental factors (e.g., product, service and policy attributes) and do not examine the effects of psychological factors on customer perceived value towards an innovative business model [
28,
29,
30]. This gives us an opportunity to study the mediating effect of the customer perceived value between the high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness in a customer-centric perspective. Furthermore, prior studies initially and mainly explore the link between different electric vehicle business models and consumer adoption. For instance, Katja Laurischkat’s research found that EV business models which is able to address service problems have the best chances to win in the electric vehicle market competition [
31]. Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens studied the future need of innovative EV business model for massive adoption [
27]. The impact of the EV business model on brand competitiveness has not been investigated. Unlike the traditional fuel vehicle industry, electric vehicle enterprises are facing a decentralized, decarbonized and digitalized road towards the sustainable transition [
32]. Auto makers have been actively innovating established business models to create new values for customers and to adapt to fast changes in the marketplace. Extant research mostly conducted empirical analysis of consumer preferences for electric vehicle buying model, leasing model and sharing model, the high-end EV sales business model has been largely overlooked. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating whether and how high-end EV sales business model affects brand competitiveness.
To address the aforementioned problems, it would be interesting and significant to study high-end EV sales business model and its impact on brand competitiveness, so that EV enterprises could better adjust current business model to make it become more appropriate for the brand promotion strategy. Therefore, the objectives of this paper are threefold: (1) To study the impact mechanism between high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness and then derive the hypotheses, establish a new conceptional structural equation model according to the universally recognized consumer-based brand equity model [
33] and the recent argument of customer perceived value in this hierarchy [
34,
35]. (2) To conduct an empirical analysis encompassing 624 EV consumers by dividing high-end EV sales business model into three dimensions: value proposition, value creation and value capture [
36,
37]. (3) To discuss the empirical results and present implications for EV automakers to adjust their business model for sustainable development.
5. Discussion and Conclusions
This study explores the impact of high-end EV sales business model on brand competitiveness and analyzes the mediation effect between high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness. Our key findings are as follows: First, we find that the value proposition, value creation and value capture of high-end EV sales business model increase customer perceived values. Second, the growth of customer perceived value can enhance brand competitiveness. In addition, customer perceived value also mediates the relationship between value proposition of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness and between value creation of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness, whereas it does not mediate the relationship between value capture of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness. More specifically, the promotion of brand competitiveness is positively associated with customer perceived value. Third, we find that the value capture of high-end EV sales business model can only affect brand competitiveness directly, which suggests that the brand premium and high revenue acquired from conducting high-end brand positioning strategy can directly promote brand competitiveness without the positive customer perception.
First, we discuss the proposed hypotheses H1, H2 and H3. According to the result, the value proposition of high-end EV sales business model has a direct positive effect on brand competitiveness. This is in line with the notion that the value proposition of high-end sales strategy aims at providing the highest brand value and pricing power by leveraging all tangible and intangible elements of singularity, which in turn gives a brand particularly powerful feeling of uniqueness [
110]. This kind of superlative and not comparative positioning is an excellent way to make the brand leave a deep impression on customers and strengthen brand competitiveness [
111]. Furthermore, our results support the value creation of high-end EV sales business model has a direct positive effect on brand competitiveness. Brands usually create two types of value—functional value and symbolic value [
112]. EV brands which adopt high-end sales business model all follow differentiation strategy, they not only deliver high-quality products and services, but also strive to carve out their own way of creating symbolic value in the segment of customers that they are primarily targeting [
113]. As such, it directly creates a sense of exclusivity of the brand and enhance brand competitiveness [
114]. In addition, the results show that the value capture of high-end EV sales business model has a direct positive effect on brand competitiveness. High-end EV sales strategy gives brands ability to command a price higher than their competitors, which can increase their revenue [
8]. Sustainable profitability guarantees the brand has sufficient money to improve its products and services [
14]. As a result, it enhances their overall brand equity and competitiveness.
Second, we elaborate on the proposed effects of H4 and H5. Our results show that the value proposition and value creation of high-end EV sales business model have significant positive impacts on customer perceived value. This is in line with the notion that high-end sales strategy aims at appealing to high-end customers, but whether the proposition of the brand is truly valuable depends on how customers evaluate it [
115]. Moreover, the success of a product or service created by a brand is closely related to the customers’ evaluation of the merits of them [
116]. There is a strong link between the value created by a brand and how customers perceive it [
117]. Unexpectedly, the value capture of high-end EV sales business model does not have a significant impact on customer perceived value. This may be due to the reason that value capture mainly refers to the internal profitability mechanism of how a company retain revenue from its value proposed and created in its business model [
118], thus the profitable mechanism or procedure designed inside a company has little to do with how customers perceived it. Furthermore, the empirical analysis above demonstrates that customer perceived value has a significant positive impact on brand competitiveness. This finding is consistent with extant research. Customers are the foundation of brand survival and development. Customer perceived value is the direct experience in the process of consumption, which has a profound impact on brand competitiveness.
Finally, we discuss the proposed mediation effect of customer perceived value on brand competitiveness, which is our hypotheses H6. As our analysis goes deeper, we found that the value proposition and value creation of high-end EV sales business model can only strengthen brand competitiveness indirectly through the rise of customer perceived value, while at the same time, they cannot make positive impacts on brand competitiveness directly when the customer perceived value is introduced. Yaqun Yi states that the successful value proposition of a brand is the key to gain customers and beat other competitors, it helps the brand to identify what kind of products and services it needs to offer to its potential customers, but the competitiveness rises and increases in market share must be based on the fact that customers perceive these propositions to be superior to alternatives [
119]. The value creation of high-end EV sales business model focuses on offering expected unique and differentiated products and services to customers [
8], whether customers prefer the value a brand offering is one of the most important parts for winning over other competitors [
17]. In addition, the value capture of high-end EV sales business model can only affect brand competitiveness directly without the mediation effect of customer perceived value. This conclusion indicates that value capture concentrates on the process of how to generate sufficient revenue and profits to sustain brand competitive advantage. Different from some authors, this insight believes value capture is an internal profit-making mechanism within organizations; the revenue from value capture is usually used to fund brand promotion and this process does not need customer intervention.
5.1. Theoretical Enlightenment
Through exploring how high-end EV sales business model affects brand competitiveness, we contribute and extend the research boundary on business model theory and brand competitiveness. In particular, from a customer-centric perspective, we introduce customer perceived value into the study on high-end EV sales business model with respect to three separate dimensions. Previous scholars mainly and merely focused on the study of either high-end EV sales business model or brand competitiveness, whereas they often separated the relationship between parts and the whole, ignoring the mediation impact mechanism of high-end EV sales business model on brand competitiveness. We filled this academic gap in our study.
First, recent studies mainly focused on the relationship between sales volume and high-end EV sales business model [
120,
121]. Lots of EV companies are startups and it is especially important for startups to build a strong brand when launching into a new market [
79]. This paper complements this insight by investigating the impact of decomposed three dimensions of high-end EV sales business model on brand competitiveness. On the other hand, scholars have investigated business model from company-centric perspective [
122]. The psychological relationship between high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness has been largely overlooked. Therefore, our study extends extant research of business model from a customer-centric perspective. Furthermore, by decomposing high-end EV sales business model into value proposition, value creation and value capture [
26], we specifically study the impact of decomposed dimensions on customer perceived value. Our customer-centric perspective study indicates that the value proposition and value creation of high-end EV sales business model have positive impact on customer perceived value, whereas the value capture dimension does not have impact on it. The empirical analysis of our study supports that value proposition and value creation play pivotal role for developing positive customer perception. The conclusion helps a brand to allocate capital and resources effectively through putting more effort on optimization of value proposition and value creation process to increase customer perceived value.
Second, some scholars have studied the significance of customers integration in designing a business model which can outperform other competitors [
123,
124]. In this paper, we argue that scholars have to understand the effect of customer perceived value in order to fully understand customers integration into high-end EV sales business model, because the way a business model perceived by consumers determines its success [
36]. In order to investigate the impact mechanism between high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness, we discover a new direction which customer perceived value is taken as a mediation effect. Therefore, we complement extant literature that have studied customer intervention on business model. Our results show that the relationships between the value proposition of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness and between the value creation of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness are fully mediated by customer perceived value. This conclusion indicates that the value proposed and created by an EV brand cannot be directly converted into brand competitiveness. Subjectively, based on personal feelings, EV brands do wish their efforts on improving value proposition and value creation can lead to promotion of brand competitiveness, while as a matter of fact, customers’ feelings towards the value proposed and created by a brand is of decisive significance in promoting brand competitiveness. The brand competitiveness will only improve when customers feel that the proposed value of a brand can really meet their needs and the products and services created by a brand exceed their expectation. Our finding enriches and deepens the existing research about how high-end EV sale business model affect brand competitiveness. Furthermore, the empirical result also indicates that customer perceived value does not play as a mediator between the value capture process of high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness, it can enhance brand competitiveness directly. Therefore, this conclusion reconfirms the understanding that a highly profitable brand can make use of the profit to improve the brand by expanding the markets and becoming more visible in the public [
125]. To sum up, our study contributes to the customer-centric perceptive of high-end EV sales business model and the notion that the most important strategy for increasing brand competitiveness is raising customer perceived value.
5.2. Management Enlightenment
Our study also provides us some suggestions for managing a brand. As an emerging industry, the most urgent task for brand managers is to create market positioning regarding a brand. Due to the high manufacturing cost of electric vehicles, most brands choose to implement a high-end sales business model. Our findings suggest that customer perceived value is a key factor for improving brand competitiveness, because it has a strong positive relationship with both high-end sales business model and brand competitiveness. This paper recommends to brand managers that through adopting differentiation strategy and selling high-end products, EV companies should associate their brands’ proposition with a unique aura of mystique and exclusivity. This could help customers to know what their brands represent and help EV companies to improve customer perception and enhance brand competitiveness. Moreover, brand managers should also focus on improving the quality of electric vehicles and services. This could make consumers think that your brand is better than your competitors. In addition, brand managers should take notice of that value capture improvement can only increase brand competitiveness directly. Therefore, managers need to sustain brand profitability to guarantee it has sufficient capital to grow business and competitiveness.
Furthermore, with the development of society and economy, the consumptional needs of consumers have deeply changed. The traditional needs of consumers pay more attention to the functional and practical value of products, while since the culture has become more and more diversed, the consumptional needs of consumers have become more personalized and unique and the spiritual needs of products and services exceed their material needs. Due to technical constraints, traditional automobile manufacturers can not monitor the personalized needs of potential consumers effectively, while auto makers now could grasp the personalized needs of consumers and proposed precised value proposition with the help of new techologies, e.g., 5G and big data mining. EV brands should also build a diversified value creation system in the future, products and services such as catering, entertainment, e-commerce and big data resources can also become the carrier of value creation. In terms of value capture for EV brands, abandoning the mode of pursuing short-term profits gradualy is very important, EV brands should pay attention to abandoning the traditional concept of “product + customer”, innovate management methods, shift the management focus to the concept of “customer + product” and put customers at first place. Brand managers of EV companies can build an inhabited ecosystem for customers through the combination of offline experience center and online apps to attract customers and increase customer base at first and then provide customers with personalized products and services to achieve value capture.
5.3. Research Limitations and Future Research Directions
Despite our study offers some insights on the relationship between high-end EV sales business model and brand competitiveness. There are still some limitations for future studies. First, from customer-centric perspective, this research focused on the relationship between high-end sales business model and brand competitiveness; future research can investigate on how various value capture models, such as direct sales, will affect brand competitiveness. Second, due to the weaknesses of the analytical method chosen, it is inappropriate to compare whether certain brands had been more successful than others in creating the perceptions which are likely to lead to success, future research can use other methods to further study and discuss this issue. Moreover, the electric vehicle industry was taken as research subject to investigate the impact of high-end sales business model on customer perceived value and brand competitiveness. Whether our conclusions can be applied in other industries still needs to be studied in the future. In addition, there are other elements, such as switching costs and substitutive effect, affecting the relationship between business model and brand competitiveness [
126]. It is also fruitful for scholars to examine the moderating effect of switching costs on the relationship between business model and brand competitiveness. Furthermore, despite our researchers trying to collect data from different places to reduce the effect of common method bias while it is still inevitable, to avoid the existence of common method bias, future studies could expand data sources to further reduce common method bias. Last but not least, this study collected data in mainland China, high-end EV sales business model also exists in many other countries; scholars can use our method to broaden our insights through investigating the impact of psychological factors on brand competitiveness in other industries and countries, which will strengthen the externality validity of the conceptual linkages examined in this paper.