Abstract
Green hydrogen receives attention across academia, governments, and practitioners as a technical solution to decarbonize economic sectors, yet its large-scale deployment faces significant barriers and depends on effective policy incentives. There is little research examining how actors perceive barriers and incentives. Understanding such perspectives is key to designing impactful policies. This study investigates actors’ perceptions of barriers and incentives and how these vary across organizational characteristics, gender, managerial role, and Romanian market exposure. An online survey conducted in 2025 collected responses from diverse stakeholders across the European hydrogen value chain (N = 236). Responses were analyzed using Chi-square, Mann–Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests, as well as Pearson’s correlations. Results show that “high capital costs”, “regulatory uncertainty”, and “lack of infrastructure” are seen as the most critical barriers, while “financial subsidies”, “regulatory mandates”, and “public policies” are the preferred incentives. Statistically significant differences emerge for “public acceptance” and “limited market demand” across organizational roles and types, and for “public–private partnerships” among respondents with Romanian market contact. By showing that barriers and incentives are not only structural, but also shaped by individual and organizational characteristics, this study highlights conceptually that green hydrogen policies must consider diverse business perspectives to be successful.