Is more automation always better An empirical study of customers' willingness to use autonomous vehicle functions

Abstract

Sometime, many (maybe all) vehicles on our streets will drive autonomously -or at least have autonomous functions. However, in the short run, consumers' preferences regarding the automation of pivotal vehicle functions are not entirely clear. This paper accordingly investigates consumers' willingness to use three levels of automation (none, partial, and full) of potentially autonomous vehicle functions (safety, parking prediction, and remote diagnostics). The results show that consumers' willingness to use autonomous vehicle functions is generally the highest for moderately autonomous functions and that the willingness to use these functions decreases above a certain level of autonomy. This paper also finds that this effect is moderated by gender and depends on individual involvement level with respect to autonomous vehicle functions, that is, highly involved consumers are more likely to appreciate autonomous vehicle functions compared with low-involved consumers.

Customer perceptions of shared autonomous vehicle usage: an empirical study

“…For purchase intentions, positive relationships can be seen between reliability (r = 0.431, p < 0.01), safety (r = 0.400, p < 0.01) and service provider attributes (r = 0.396, p < 0.01). The findings reinforced the importance of reliability and safety attributes of autonomous vehicles and their relationships with customer purchase intentions (Merfeld, 2019;Schmalfuß et al, 2017;Souka et al, 2019). The strongest correlation is seen between customer perceived value and purchase intentions (r = 0.499, p < 0.01), which provided support for H6.…”

“…In a study on electric vehicles in a shared autonomous vehicle setting, Schmalfuß et al (2017) found the importance of riders' perceptions of safety and reliability in autonomous vehicle operations. Similarly, safety was found to be the most important factor in studies on autonomous vehicle functions (Souka et al, 2019) and autonomous vehicle sharing (Merfeld et al, 2019), while Panagiotopoulos and Dimitrakopoulos (2018) found that safety concerns towards autonomous vehicles can have a negative influence on the intention to use and adopt the vehicles.…”

“…This finding is reinforced by a study of survey respondents who viewed safety as the most attractive features of autonomous vehicles, whereas liability and cost were the least attractive elements (Howard and Dai, 2014). Similarly, safety was found to be the most important factor in studies on autonomous vehicle functions (Souka et al, 2019) and autonomous vehicle sharing (Merfeld et al, 2019). Hence, managers need to pay attention to safety and reliability issues, which can act as potential barriers in the acceptance and adoption of shared mobility services.…”

Self-Perception and General Perception of the Safety Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and People with Ambulatory Disability

“…Diverse factors may be important for potential AV users. While some studies [9] [15] have emphasized the importance of the level of control a driver has over the vehicle, others [16] [17] have emphasized the vehicle's ability to flawlessly navigate and maneuver on its own. Although it has been predicted by some [2] that AVs will be safer because they will eliminate human error, for AV non-users, especially vulnerable road users like pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities, having to share roads with vehicles with unfamiliar or vaguely familiar technologies can be a reason for extreme safety concern.…”

Special Section: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges in Managing Smart Products and Services

“…Consequently, novel research questions, for example, with respect to additional or possibly different drivers and barriers of product adoption emerge (Mani and Chouk 2018 ; Schweitzer and van den Hende 2016 ; Souka et al. 2020 ). The effect of the anthropomorphism of a smart product on purchase intention may serve as an illustrative example.…”