Knowledge and attitudes about the ‘green car' concept among officers of a bank in Colombo district

Introduction ‘Green cars’ have a history which runs back to the origin of green technology itself. They play a main role in environmental sustainability, in achievement of sustainable development goals. Although studies have been conducted on assessing the consumer knowledge and attitudes on 'green cars', studies investigating the association between these components are lacking. The main objective of our study was to describe and compare the factors associated with knowledge and attitudes about the ‘green car’ concept among officers of a bank in Colombo district.  Method In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a two-stage sampling process, involving non-systematic sampling to select venue and stratified sampling to select subjects within the venue was used to select a sample of 300. Using a self-administered questionnaire, knowledge and attitudes were assessed. Knowledge against socio-demographic factors was investigated using independent sample t-test.  Attitudes against socio-demographic factors were investigated using Chi-square test. Results Response rate was 95.6%. Majority (54%) had a high level of knowledge, but knowledge on 'green car' identification and electric car recharging was poor. Most important factor considered when buying a vehicle was cost, while most important factor discouraging buying an electric car was recharging issues. Although most were found to have eco-friendly attitudes, bank officers with a higher level of knowledge were more pro-environmental. Majority (55%) of them were willing to by a 'green car' as their next vehicle. Conclusion Awareness and knowledge of bank officers on the 'green car' concept was at a satisfactory level. A higher level of knowledge was associated with more eco-friendly attitudes.