Does a Test Ride Influence Attitude towards Autonomous Vehicles? A Field Experiment with Pretest and Posttest Measurement

Autonomous vehicles have the potential to disrupt the mobility system. Therefore, it is important to understand attitude formation towards autonomous vehicles. The focus of this study is on the private user’s technology acceptance of an autonomous vehicle. The study applies the determinants of technology acceptance to capture users’ attitude towards and intention to adopt autonomous vehicles. A field experiment with 27 participants was conducted to assess changes in determinants before and after a test ride with a level 2 automated vehicle. The automated vehicle was equipped with technology that allowed a hands-off, feet-off experience on a public road in real traffic. The results show that a ride has a positive and significant effect on attitudes towards autonomous vehicles. Additionally, participants with higher ratings of technology anxiety show a remarkable increase in attitude towards autonomous vehicles after the ride compared to participants with lower levels of technology anxiety. These findings indicate that experience with a partially automated vehicle has a potentially positive effect on the acceptance of autonomous vehicles. As such, our study illustrates the importance of continuous pilot testing with private automated vehicles to increase future user acceptance of autonomous vehicles.