Global drivers and barriers to the public acceptance of autonomous vehicles: Evidence from 17 countries

arXiv cs.AI · 6 hours ago

Researchers surveyed 18,603 respondents across 17 countries to identify factors affecting public acceptance of Level 3 conditionally automated vehicles using the UTAUT2 framework. Performance expectancy, social influence, and hedonic motivation were the primary drivers of acceptance, while effort expectancy and facilitating conditions played smaller roles, with age, gender, and prior experience showing weak predictive power. The findings indicate that acceptance depends primarily on perceived usefulness, social support, and enjoyment rather than demographic factors or ease-of-use concerns.