Influencing factors on social acceptance of autonomous vehicles and policy implications

Autonomous vehicles are of profound worldwide interest and automotive and IT industries related to autonomous vehicles have focused on them more intensely to commercialize. Experts predict that autonomous vehicles will bring about widespread changes in our lives, society, economy and culture. However, South Korea is insufficiently prepared for these changes. Another problem is that policies pertaining to autonomous vehicles in South Korea seem to be biased towards suppliers. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze Korean consumers' acceptance of autonomous vehicles. This study aims to examine what factors of autonomous vehicles affect consumers and whether they recognize the differences in levels of autonomous driving technology. The data were collected from 459 South Koreans over 20 years of age. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, general acceptance of autonomous vehicles was affected by usefulness, reliability and legality. PAV (Partial Autonomous Vehicle) acceptance was influenced by safety, anxiety, ease of driving, driver convenience, driving education and driver's carelessness. In contrast, FAV (Full Autonomous Vehicle) acceptance was influenced by safety, user convenience, and extra expenses. These results show that factors directly related to drivers influence PAV acceptance while external environmental factors affect FAV acceptance. This study has some implications for governments and the automobile industry pertaining to autonomous vehicles. Usefulness, reliability, and legality should be considered in order to increase acceptance of autonomous vehicles. Secondly, safety and driver/user convenience are important factors for acceptance of both of PAVs and FAVs. Finally, due to conflicting aspects, the strategies should be different between PAVs and FAVs.