The effects of social conformity and gender on drivers’ behavioural intention towards level-3 automated vehicles

Automated driving technology is considered a disruptive innovation. Mixed traffic composed of level-3 automated vehicles (L3 AVs) and non-AVs will exist long before fully automated driving arrives. During this transition, drivers will be the first to use L3 AVs, so studying drivers’ behavioural intentions to use L3 AVs is vital. This paper focuses on the influence of social conformity and gender on drivers’ intentions to drive L3 AVs. Three hundred one participants completed an online questionnaire containing 1) demographic information, 2) a scale based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) under two scenarios (large-group scenario: 80% of drivers are driving AVs in the road, small-group scenario: 20% of drivers are driving AVs in the road), and 3) a scale measuring conformity tendency and personal innovativeness in information technology. In the large-group scenario, drivers have stronger intentions to drive L3 AVs, and there is no significant gender difference. In the small-group scenario, the male drivers’ driving intentions were significantly higher than those of the female drivers. The predictive model based on the TPB explained 81.1% and 64.8% of the variance in driving intention in the two scenarios, respectively. The three traditional variables (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behaviour control) of the TPB appeared to be the main predictors for the model. The results of this study provide some practical implications for manufacturers of AVs.