Abstract
Previous research has been limited to investigating acceptance of autonomous vehicles (AVs) from a consumer-oriented perspective, thereby neglecting the numerous attitudes and behaviors emerging among multiple social actors and contexts. Moreover, methodological approaches based on surveys or interviews are limited in their ability to capture the full picture of public opinion due to the pre-defined nature of questioning and small sample size. Drawing on a social constructionist perspective, we investigate public discourse on AVs and base our qualitative analysis on conversation data (389′863 posts) from two related online communities on Reddit between January 2016 and March 2021. Four major streams of discussion are identified, namely Social, Economic, Ethical, and Legal dimensions. By systematically exploring and structuring the complex nature of public opinion on AVs, the present study contributes by enhancing our understanding on AV acceptance and providing implications for policy makers, stakeholders, and social science research.
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