Abstract
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the use of personal vehicles in travel, adoption of self-driving autonomous vehicles can radically transform the travel industry. Thus, this study develops and tests a conceptual autonomous vehicle acceptance model that identifies hedonic motivation, trust in autonomous vehicles and social influence as critical determinants of performance expectancy, perceived risk and emotions, which determine travelers’ intentions to use autonomous vehicles (AVs) utilizing the Cognitive Appraisal Theory and the Artificially Intelligent Device Use Acceptance model as conceptual frameworks. Findings indicate that trust is the most powerful determinant of performance expectancy and essential to decrease risk perceptions. Furthermore, performance expectancy and hedonic motivation are critical determinants of travelers’ positive emotions, which in turn determines the acceptance of AVs. Contribution to theoretical knowledge and implications for practice are provided, and limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.
Highlights
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the travel industry and society at large are going through a history-making era of immense proportions
We suggest that the perception of benefits is positively correlated and the perception of risks is negatively correlated with positive emotions toward using autonomous vehicles (AVs) for travel and tourism purposes
There is a clear consensus in the literature that trust, hedonic motivation, social influence, risk, and performance expectancy are the critical antecedents of individuals’ acceptance and use of new technologies (Venkatesh et al 2003; Venkatesh, Thong, and Xu 2012)
Summary
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the travel industry and society at large are going through a history-making era of immense proportions. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered travel behavior and travel experience expectations (Gursoy and Chi 2020). While it is not clear at the moment what will the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic be on travel industry, there is no question that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel industry and the society at large has been going through an immense transformation because of being in such a pivotal moment in human history (Higgins-Desbiolles 2020). To ensure social distancing and minimize the possibility of getting infected with the coronavirus (Gursoy, Chi, and Chi 2020) An increasing number of travelers are traveling by their personal vehicles rather than taking other forms of transportation such as air travel, taking the train, etc. to ensure social distancing and minimize the possibility of getting infected with the coronavirus (Gursoy, Chi, and Chi 2020)
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