Behavioural intention to use fully autonomous vehicles: Instrumental, symbolic, and affective motives

Abstract

Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have the potential to transform the transportation industry with significant economic, social and environmental benefits. However, the mass deployment of AVs depends on public desire to use them. This study aims to examine the effect of instrumental, symbolic, and affective motives on the behavioural intention to use fully AVs. Based on a survey of 240 U.S. residents, a structural equation modeling analysis was performed. Our results suggest the behavioural intention to use fully AVs depends on fulfilling instrumental (i.e., performance expectancy and hedonic motivation), symbolic (i.e., personal innovativeness and social influence) and affective motives (i.e., trust and performance risk). These results have implication for designing policy interventions to increase the deployment of AVs.