Chinese Tourists' Perceptions and Attitudes to Autonomous Vehicles: Factors affecting technology acceptance

摘要

The travel behaviors and consumption patterns of Chinese tourists are undergoing significant changes, with a notable shift from traditional sightseeing tours to a more diverse range of sightseeing and leisure vacations. This research predominantly utilises a quantitative research approach to examine the perceptions of Chinese tourists towards the adoption of autonomous vehicles for their holiday tours with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by integrating additional factors identified in recent studies conducted in China. The outcomes of this research reveals that Personnel Innovativeness exerts a significant impact on the adoption of autonomous vehicles by Chinese tourists. Further, Hedonic Motivation emerges as the prime influencer of attitude towards the adoption of autonomous vehicles  among Chinese tourists. This empirical study identified Group Conformity as the highest external factor which is an important cultural aspect in China.