To Drive or not to Drive - A Critical Review regarding the Acceptance of Autonomous Vehicles

With the advent of autonomous vehicles (AVs), research has put much effort in investigating the factors relevant for the acceptance of this new technology. In order to identify, critically assess, and combine extant findings, we performed a structured literature review regarding the acceptance of self-driving vehicles. Results of this review spanning 58 articles include (1) a comprehensive AV acceptance framework outlining significant factors across three areas: individual characteristics, vehicle characteristics and policy/society. We also (2) analyze the operationalization of relevant constructs and items in the identified studies as they strongly diverge in extant literature. This new level of detail helps researchers and practitioners to pervade and compare the AV acceptance research in-depth. Additionally, we contribute to the AV research stream as we (3) identify possible future research avenues, which we examine regarding content, method, and focus