Drivers of Autonomous Vehicle Adaption – A Qualitative Assessment of Consumers’ Motives
Abstract
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are a cornerstone of the automotive industry’s strategy to address future society’s needs. The introduction of AVs will drastically change the automotive industry, as established OEMs will face new competitors of the IT domain and novel customer needs have to be understood. While technological, legal, and traffic-management related aspects have been widely assessed insights into consumer’s perception have been widely neglected. Nevertheless, understanding the fears, wants, and needs of consumers is critical in the race to AV success. <br /><br /><br /><br />
We conducted a series of interviews with different customer groups in Germany, recruited by a leading German vehicle manufacturer. Means-end chain (MEC) analysis was used to explore the motives and motivational patterns underlying consumers’ acceptance of AVs. The MEC technique allows for a detailed analysis of consumers usage and cognitive motive structures, by linking participation relevant attributes, resulting utility components, and underlying individual values, which can serve as a basis for market segmentation. <br /><br />
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Preliminary results show that consumers’ value efficient utilization of driving periods, reduction of stress levels, increased quality of life through reduced commuting times via route optimization but fear handing over control to the car and a loss of driving pleasure. Moreover, we find that consumers can be grouped regarding their expectations of driving AVs: Those that describe a driverless future and want to engage in other tasks, such as watching movies or socialising with friends, and those that can only imagine engaging in less “demanding” tasks. <br /><br />
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We contribute to existing research by taking a consumer-focused approach that allows for the understanding of an MEC and apply it to an innovation perception process. The results enable managers to identify factors impacting willingness for product trial and identify unmet needs in the market development, allowing for a targeted marketing approach to prepare customers’ for the actual market introduction.