Safety still matters: Unveiling the value propositions of augmented reality head-up displays in autonomous vehicles through conjoint analysis

•Fully autonomous vehicles are limited due to technological and safety constraints.•We address user anxiety over trust and safety with autonomous vehicle driving.•We emphasize the crucial role of AR-HUDs in fostering safety and driver trust.•A conjoint analysis using 500 drivers reveals lack of trust and prioritized functions.•We provide features and attributes to help develop more user-aligned AR-HUD systems. Despite the huge progress toward fully autonomous vehicles, current models are limited to Level 3 autonomy due to technological constraints, making driver readiness necessary for manual intervention. Head-up displays (HUDs) enhanced with augmented reality (AR) technologies are being developed to improve safety and convenience by projecting essential information onto windshields, thereby minimizing driver distraction. This study addresses the anxiety linked to the current level of autonomous driving, which requires drivers to remain vigilant, and emphasizes the crucial role of AR-HUDs in bridging the gap between autonomous and manual driving, particularly in enhancing safety and fostering driver trust. A conjoint analysis conducted with 500 drivers in South Korea was used to understand AR-HUD user preferences, focusing on safety and trust-enhancing features. The findings reveal that users prioritize functions such as obstacle recognition, emergency services, and essential driving and assistance information, indicating a willingness to invest more in these features. This suggests that users are in a transitional phase, still harboring some distrust toward autonomous vehicles, and valuing the HUD features that alleviate these concerns. This study discusses the relative importance of various HUD features in autonomous vehicles, with the aim of contributing to the development of more user-aligned AR-HUD systems.