Unraveling behavioral factors influencing the adoption of urban air mobility from the end user's perspective in Tehran – A developing country outlook

Abstract

The integration of shared, autonomous, electric, and on-demand mobility services introduces urban air mobility (UAM) as an emerging intra-city transportation service operated by vertical take-off and landing aircraft. Despite the potential benefits of UAM limited literature exists on the end user's perception and the challenges to its societal acceptance, especially in developing economies. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by investigating the factors influencing UAM usage intention in Tehran, a developing country capital. Within the framework of the extended technology acceptance model, the study collected 828 valid questionnaires through a face-to-face survey. Structural equation modeling is employed to highlight the effects of a wide range of factors associated with individual differences, system characteristics, and social influence. The findings indicate that attitude, subjective norms, trust, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, personal innovativeness, ecological awareness, and price evaluation are positively associated with UAM usage intention, while perceived safety correlates with the attitude toward UAM negatively. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders, fostering a deeper understanding of end-user perspectives in developing countries, and prudently promising the potential for its targeted implementation. The study suggests that although its widespread adoption in developing countries is unlikely to occur in the near future, UAM should be regarded as a viable early and timely solution to persistent issues such as chronic congestion in metropolitan areas of the global south.