Autonomous Vehicles Down Under: An Empirical Investigation of Consumer Sentiment

Abstract

Of the many issues surrounding the potential introduction of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs), consumer response remains unclear. The current paper presents an empirical investigation of consumer sentiment towards AVs based on an online survey of 455 Australian adults. Market segmentation procedures are used to cluster participants according to their attitudes and concerns towards AVs with clusters then profiled according to demographics, personality traits and contextual/situational factors. Results suggest unsurprisingly that attitudes and concerns are a useful predictor of the likelihood of purchasing an AV. More favourable attitudes towards AVs are associated with younger, male respondents, those who drive less currently and those more open to sharing their car. More negative attitudes prevail with older, female respondents, those who drive more, and those less open to sharing their car. Results have important implications for policy-makers and researchers alike.