Early bird catches the worm! Meta-analysis of autonomous vehicles adoption – Moderating role of automation level, ownership and culture

Exploring the general acceptance factor for shared automated vehicles: the impact of personality traits and experimentally altered information

Introduction

Shared automated vehicles (SAVs) could significantly enhance public transport by addressing urban mobility challenges. However, public acceptance of SAVs remains under-studied, particularly regarding how informational factors and individual personality traits influence acceptance.

Methods

This study explores SAV acceptance using data from an experimental survey of 1902 respondents across Norway. Participants were randomly presented with different informational conditions about SAV services, manipulating vehicle autonomy (fully autonomous vs. steward onboard), seating orientation (facing direction of travel vs. facing other passengers), and ethnicity of co-passengers. Personality traits from the Five Factor Model (FFM) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) were assessed. The General Acceptance Factor (GAF), derived from the Multi-Level Model of Automated Vehicle Acceptance (MAVA), was used as the primary outcome measure.

Results

No significant main or interaction effects were found from the experimentally altered information conditions. However, personality traits significantly influenced acceptance. Specifically, higher openness and agreeableness positively predicted SAV acceptance, while higher neuroticism and social dominance orientation negatively predicted acceptance.

Discussion

The absence of experimental effects suggests either a limited role of the manipulated factors or insufficiently robust manipulations. Conversely, the substantial impact of personality traits highlights the importance of psychological factors, particularly trust, openness, and social attitudes, in shaping SAV acceptance. These findings emphasize the need for tailored communication strategies to enhance SAV uptake, addressing specific psychological profiles and fostering trust in automation.

The Impact of Trust on Chinese Consumers' Acceptance of Meat Substitutes: The Mediating Role of Perceived Benefits and Perceived Risks, and the Moderating Role of Consumer Knowledge

In recent years, meat substitutes have become a prominent global topic in academic research. As one of the world's most populous countries, China may increasingly consider meat substitutes as a new dietary option to meet the growing consumer demand. The potential acceptance of meat substitutes by consumers is a critical foundation for the industry's development, as it directly influences it's success. Moreover, consumer trust in meat substitutes plays a pivotal role in shaping this potential acceptance. Consequently, this study aims to analyze the impact of consumer trust on potential acceptance. Additionally, it incorporates the mediating roles of perceived benefits and perceived risks, as well as the moderating effect of consumer knowledge. A questionnaire survey was administered to 2647 Chinese consumers and a moderated dual-mediation model, based on the Bootstrap method, was employed to investigate the effects of consumer trust on the potential acceptance of meat substitutes. The study subsequently validated the mediating roles of perceived benefits and perceived risks, along with the moderating role of consumer knowledge. The findings indicate that consumer trust positively influences the potential acceptance of meat substitutes. Furthermore, consumer trust enhances perceived benefits while simultaneously reducing perceived risks. It affects consumer acceptance both directly and indirectly, through the mediating variables of perceived benefits and perceived risks. Consumer knowledge moderates the relationships between consumer trust, perceived benefits, and perceived risks, but does not significantly moderate the relationship between consumer trust and consumer acceptance.

Examining the effect of personality on user acceptance of conditionally automated vehicles

Automated vehicle acceptance (AVA) research has grown substantially in the past few years. There is a paucity of research on the role of the big five personality traits on attitudes towards automated vehicles (AVs) and AVA. This is a critical shortcoming given that personality is considered a critical factor explaining technology adoption. Our major theoretical contribution is the integration of the most popular personality measure - the big five - and one of the most influential technology acceptance models - Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). A questionnaire was administered to 9,339 respondents from nine countries to predict the behavioral intention to use conditionally automated vehicles (CondAVs). The original UTAUT2 was extended by trust and driver engagement and the big five personality traits openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Structural equation modeling was applied to examine the direct effects of these constructs on behavioral intention and the indirect effects of the personality traits on the independent constructs of the extended UTAUT2. The results have shown positive effects of social influence, trust, and performance expectancy on the behavioral intention to use CondAVs. Most of the hypotheses pertaining to the role of the personality traits on the UTAUT2 constructs were supported, but the effects were relatively small (< 0.25). Our findings support the usefulness of UTAUT2 in evaluating the success of AVs, providing crucial insights into the factors driving the acceptance of CondAVs. The cross-country analysis provides further insights into the role of an individual's personality for AVA. Our study yields important implications for practitioners. Given the small effect sizes of personality, designing CondAVs around the personalities of their customers during development and commercialization may be ineffective to promote trust and acceptance.

Using System Dynamics Approach to Explore the Mode Shift between Automated Vehicles, Conventional Vehicles, and Public Transport in Melbourne, Australia

With the increasing use of automated vehicles (AVs) in the coming decades, government authorities and private companies must leverage their potential disruption to benefit society. Few studies have considered the impact of AVs towards mode shift by considering a range of factors at the city level, especially in Australia. To address this knowledge gap, we developed a system dynamic (SD)-based model to explore the mode shift between conventional vehicles (CVs), AVs, and public transport (PT) by systematically considering a range of factors, such as road network, vehicle cost, public transport supply, and congestion level. By using Melbourne's Transport Network as a case study, the model simulates the mode shift among AVs, CVs, and PT modes in the transportation system over 50 years, starting from 2018, with the adoption of AVs beginning in 2025. Inputs such as current traffic, road capacity, public perception, and technological advancement of AVs are used to assess the effects of different policy options on the transport systems. The data source used is from the Victorian Integrated Transport Model (VITM), provided by the Department of Transport and Planning, Melbourne, Australia, data from the existing literature, and authors' assumptions. To our best knowledge, this is the first time using an SD model to investigate the impacts of AVs on mode shift in the Australian context. The findings suggest that AVs will gradually replace CVs as another primary mode of transportation. However, PT will still play a significant role in the transportation system, accounting for 50% of total trips by person after 2058. Cost is the most critical factor affecting AV adoption rates, followed by road network capacity and awareness programs. This study also identifies the need for future research to investigate the induced demand for travel due to the adoption of AVs and the application of equilibrium constraints to the traffic assignment model to increase model accuracy. These findings can be helpful for policymakers and stakeholders to make informed decisions regarding AV adoption policies and strategies.