Influence of perceived safety in the technology acceptance model

This study intends to redescribe the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) combined with belief classification and relation in the theory of reasoned action in a study on the intention to use Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). Using need motivation theory, the study constructs descriptive beliefs in TAM and introduces Perceived Safety (PS) into TAM to explain the use intention of potential users of AVs. The participants filled out an online questionnaire after watching a video of AVs driving on an open roadway. The study collected 470 valid questionnaires. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to organize data, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was further used to perform hypotheses testing and effect analysis. The results indicated that PS, Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), and Perceived Usefulness (PU) exert direct effects on use intention. PS and PEU also exerted indirect effects use intention through PU, and the total and indirect effects of PS were found to be greater than those of PEU, which validates the significant influence of PS in TAM. Moreover, the findings validated the role of PS as a descriptive belief in TAM in influencing the PU of inferred beliefs.