The Complementary Role of Survey-Based and Neuroscience Measurements in Modeling Customer Acceptance of Self-Driving Technology

Recently policymakers started to put more emphasis on social aspects concerning autonomous vehicles as well as researchers started to focus on social acceptance of this technologies. The topic is being thoroughly investigated using questionnaires based on different versions the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. However these tests are based on sample of respondents without prior self-driving technology usage experience, hence it is not known how the actual use of this technology alters the consumer acceptance. To address this limitation, volunteers were invited to participate in a short test drive as passengers in a self-driving vehicle, testing their acceptance of technology using UTAUT before and after the ride. Neuroscience measurements were also performed: real-time electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking were recorded during the ride. Combining experimental neuroscience measures with the responses of a follow-up UTAUT2 questionnaire has led to high explanatory power (97%) of our regression model. Our preliminary results suggest, that in a real-life test technology acceptance was related more to emotional experience during the ride and less to other elements of the UTAUT2 model – that calls into question the results of previous survey-based methods.