# Regret, policy, and discontinuance of gas vehicles: a cross-national study of Malaysia and Thailand

## TL;DR

This study examines how regret and government policies influence travelers' decisions to discontinue using gas vehicles in Malaysia and Thailand.

## Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence on how regret and policy interact to affect consumer behavior in gas vehicle use.

## Key findings

- Regret significantly impacts traveler satisfaction in Malaysia and Thailand.
- Government policy moderates the relationship between regret and discontinued intentions.
- Traveler attitudes are influenced by both regret and satisfaction levels.

## Abstract

As a psychological element, regret functions as a reflective emotion that motivates people to assess their past behaviors along with their decision-making processes and life paths. While previous research has shown that regret determines satisfaction and attitudes and influences discontinued intentions, there is a lack of empirical data regarding its effect on travelers’ decisions to stop using gas vehicles. This research explores how regret affects satisfaction and attitudes toward discontinued intentions in Malaysia’s and Thailand’s gas vehicle industries and examines government policy as a moderating factor. The research team invited 700 participants split equally between Malaysia and Thailand to complete a structured questionnaire. The path analysis of data demonstrated that regret had a substantial impact on traveler satisfaction across both countries. The study found that traveler attitudes in both national contexts were affected by both regret and satisfaction. Travelers in Malaysia and Thailand discontinued their future visits based on their levels of regret and satisfaction, which also shaped their attitudes. The study showed that government policy served as a moderating factor between regret and discontinued intention in both countries, which emphasizes how regulations affect consumer behavior. The study results reveal important details about how psychological aspects combine with policy responses to drive behavioral patterns related to gas vehicle use.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-07259-0.