Determinants of Consumers' Intention to Use Autonomous Delivery Vehicles (ADVs): A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis Approach

While numerous studies have investigated the factors associated with autonomous delivery vehicles (ADVs), there remains a paucity of research concerning consumers' intentions to utilize these technologies. Prior research has predominantly concentrated on the effects of individual variables on outcomes, often neglecting the synergistic influence of various factors on consumer intention. This study seeks to examine the collective impact of pro-environmental motives (including awareness of consequences and ascription of responsibility), normative motives (such as subjective norms and personal norms), risk factors (COVID-19 risk and delivery risk), and individual characteristics (including trust in technology and innovation) on consumers' intentions to adopt ADVs. Employing a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this research analyzed data from 561 Chinese consumers collected via an online platform. The results yielded six distinct solutions, indicating that multiple combinations of antecedent factors could lead to a higher intention to adopt compared to any singular factor. These findings offer significant theoretical and practical implications for the effective implementation of ADVs in the last-mile delivery sector.