My theory on how to support your values in a consumer society:

You should purchase products (like the prius) that espouse your values, even if you know that it is a complete sham. (The prius may or may not be a sham, i'm not saying one way or the other.)

Let's say the prius does not save gas at all. But is marketed as if it does. Therefore, if that is important to you, you should buy it anyway.

Other manufacturers will see that the conscientious product is selling, and begin to market thier products in such a way to align themsleves with that value.

Sooner or later, in order to breakthough to the consumer, manufacturers will have to make a product that actually does promote the values it is aligned with. And then you buy that.

The important idea to me is that you should buy according to your values, even if you know it is a complete lie.

Of course this is true, but this doesn't tell us anything about Prius owners vs. any other kind of car owners. My sister is an advertising research specialist for a major automotive account, and she tells me that this is how ALL cars are marketed and sold. E.g., research show that people who by BMWs tend to have a idealized self-image of young-professional-successful, and they buy a BMW precisely because they want to project an image of young-professional-successful. I suspect you could play this game with every car model out there.

The problem with marketing high fuel economy cars to Americans is that "economy" is not associated with status. You need to make the "economy" car more expensive than other cars and the extra cost must outweigh the saving in fuel cost so that this just becomes another form of conspicuous consumption. If concern about the environment were the true motivation (and not just appearance) then the many cars marketed in Europe that get 50-70 mpg (and are much cheaper than hybrids) would be available here. A small number of hybrids does not really solve anything - what we need is mass adoption of cheaper high fuel economy cars and that won't happen until gas prices hit some threshold and stay there.

I had the yen to buy the lexus little SUV, had

the money, wanted the "look" and function. But,

I didn't at all yearn to only get 19 miles per

gallon. So, we bought a Prius and feel a lot

better about making a gallon of gas last longer

and go farther, on average around 45 mpg. I don't get the disconnect that you mentioned in your article. We are using less oil. Sharon

Heldenbrand

It is likely that on any topic in California one would find that image is a major motivator. I doubt this is unique for Prius owners in California but reflects an image conscience west coast culture. Maybe a more extensive research process that was more representative of various regions of the country would produce more valid and informative conclusions. This article minimises the validity of why hybrids are a socially conscience purchase and equates buying Priuses with the conservative denigration of latte drinking liberals.

Hybrid cars and their owners have received a lot of negative attention recently, most significantly in the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal (see Prius Follies, Take Two by Holman W. Jenkins Jr., 12/14/2005). I believe the attention to be a direct result of the public finally waking up to our dependency on foreign oil, and the auto and oil industry's resulting panic.

I find it interesting that Mr. Leonard would state that "Prius owners know that their purchase of a hybrid isn't going to make the air they breathe any cleaner or solve U.S. dependency on foreign oil" That conclusion is directly contradicted on page 7 of the U.C. Davis study that he references.

I get 45 or so MPG in all types of driving in my Prius, and I'm proud of it. If double the common MPG average isn't going to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil - or make the air cleaner, I'd like to know what will. Maybe it would be better if I bought a Hummer, as Jenkins sagely suggests.

I'm also proud to be seen driving it because of what it says about me.

JTR,

You must not have followed the link to the earlier discussion of hybrids in this space, which was in direct response to the holman jenkins absurdness.

The Davis study also explicitly points out that most of the interview subjects knew that their purchase of a Prius would not materially affect the air that they breathed in their own local neighborhoods.

Somehow, you have decided to interpret my post as anti-hybrid. I think you might want to read it again.

...while people who make truly responsible choices remain invisible.

It's easy for a car to project a cool image, but how are you supposed to project a trendy enviro-vibe when you decide to walk instead of drive?

(Perhaps Leonardo DiCaprio should take the bus to the Oscars.)

If hybrid buyers were interested in reducing CO2 emissions at the lowest cost, they would simply be buying carbon credits online.

So clearly there are other forces at work. Signalling to others about environmental responsibility is a reasonable thing to do, and you can hope the social pressure (and manufacturer response to demand) will have some effect.

But for an affordable solution which also sends the right pro-environment message, I'm partial to my TerraPass (www.terrapass.com).

I'm sorry but the first time I saw the car and looked at its name, the first thing that entered my mind was, why would they name the car Priapus, then i did a double take. I still can't get that image out of my mind and there is not way I'd ride in, much less buy a car named after the male member. Maybe that's why its so popular, anyone done any gender surveys to determine which sex purchases the car the most?