Tell Me What I Need To Know: Consumers’ Desire for Information Transparency in Self-Driving Vehicles

Fully autonomous or “self-driving” vehicles are an emerging mobility technology with a host of potential benefits over conventional motor vehicles. Proponents argue that widespread adoption of self-driving vehicles may save countless lives and millions of dollars annually by minimizing the likelihood of deadly vehicle crashes. However, for such benefits to be realized, widespread consumer adoption of self-driving technologies is a prerequisite. Prior research suggests that while consumers are broadly optimistic about the potential of vehicle automation, there are significant concerns that may undermine consumer adoption, such as the transparency of vehicle operation. There is insufficient research into consumers’ desire to understand a self-driving vehicle’s intent and decision-making process and its impact on their willingness to adopt. We conducted a study using a 63-question internet-based survey distributed in the United States to licensed drivers 18 years of age and older (n= 996) to examine consumer preferences of the information transparency of self-driving vehicles. Our findings suggest that middle-aged and older consumers of high household income were generally optimistic about the information sharing behavior and transparency of self-driving vehicles upon availability.