Innovation Acceptance: The Case of Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems

338 Pages·2014·3.06 MB·English

by  Patrick Planing (auth.)

Innovation Acceptance
Patrick Planing
Innovation Acceptance
The Case of Advanced
Driver-Assistance Systems
Patrick Planing
Stuttgart , Germany

Dissertation Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK, 2013

ISBN 978-3-658-05004-7 ISBN 978-3-658-05005-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-05005-4

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Acknowledgements
This thesis would not exist without the continuous support of a number of peo-
ple who contributed their suggestions and advice. First of all, I would sincerely
like to thank my director of studies, Aftab Dean, who provided extremely valu-
able advice and dedicated much of his personal time to this project. I especially
thank Aftab Dean for always being available for a personal discussion and for
having the patience for all sorts of minor and major problems encountered
throughout this thesis.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my supervisors Claudio Vignali and Bernd
Britzelmaier for their assistance in completing this project. Claudio Vignali’s
personal efforts made it possible to bring together this inspiring and motivating
group of PhD students, which strongly supported the development of this thesis.
Additionally, his assistance regarding the fulfilment of the formal processes
should also be noted. Bernd Britzelmaier’s support enabled me to start this pro-
ject in the first place and he continued to be a highly supportive member of the
board throughout the completion of this research project. I also have to express
my gratitude to my mentor, Michael Terporten, who connected me to the aca-
demic world and supported me with advice whenever needed.
Finally, I would like to dedicate special thanks to my private social environ-
ment, including my family and my fiancée for their understanding that this pro-
ject required full dedication for a considerable period of time.

Patrick Planing
Abstract
Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) provide the opportunity to in-
crease road safety and driving comfort. Yet, the analysis of the European market
shows that ADAS are still niche products with low customer awareness and
marginal market penetration rates. The overall aim of this study is to explain
which factors are decisive for the customer’s acceptance of Advanced Driver-
Assistance Systems (ADAS) in order to help the industry and legislation to
market this technology. The academic discussion is still far from reaching a
common agreement on a universally applicable model for the acceptance of
technological innovations and so far no acceptance research has been conducted
in the specific context of ADAS.

Reviewing existing empirical work on comparable innovations, the author de-
rived potential acceptance constructs, which together with the results of thirty-
two semi-structured interviews have constituted the basis for a survey instru-
ment that was consequently administered to a sample of over 400 participants
(of which 387 were accepted responses) from the target population.
The resulting regression model shows that Perceived Safety and Comfort Bene-
fits are most decisive for the acceptance of ADAS, while Desire to Exert Con-
trol was found to most strongly support resistance to this technology. In other
words, a strong personal motivation to exert power significantly reduces the
acceptance of ADAS. The analysis of group differences, furthermore, revealed
that females and younger individuals are significantly more likely to buy driver-
assistance systems than males and senior individuals. Most importantly, past
experience was found to act as a major background variable for the acceptance
of ADAS.

These findings contribute not only to the academic field, but also have several
implications for the industry and the legislative authorities. The industry should
focus its attention on the direct communication of potential safety and comfort
benefits at the point of sale. Since the results generally show that first experi-
ences strongly support the acceptance of this technology, both industry and
legislation should aim for increasing initial usage of this technology by provid-
ing test drive opportunities or governmental incentives for initial usage. Fur-
thermore it is promising to develop target-group oriented marketing measures
VIII Abstract

specifically in regard to female and younger car drivers, as these groups will act
as early adopters in the case of driver-assistance systems.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. V
Abstract ............................................................................................................ VII
List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................... XIII
List of Illustrations ........................................................................................... XV
List of Tables ................................................................................................ XVII

Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................ 1
1.1 Chapter Objectives .................................................................................. 1
1.2 Research Introduction ............................................................................. 1
1.3 Research Aims and Objectives ................................................................ 2
1.4 Initial Hypotheses ................................................................................... 2
1.5 Research Questions and Gaps in Knowledge .......................................... 3
1.6 Rationale for Industry and Location Focus ............................................. 4
1.7 Stakeholder Analysis ............................................................................... 6
1.8 Thesis Structure....................................................................................... 9
1.9 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................... 10

Chapter 2: Background ...................................................................................... 11
2.1 Chapter Objectives ................................................................................ 11
2.2 ADAS Technology ................................................................................ 11
2.3 Advantages of ADAS Technology ........................................................ 14
2.4 Risks Associated with ADAS Technology ........................................... 14
2.5 Market Situation of ADAS in Europe ................................................... 16
2.6 The Importance of ADAS for the German Automobile Industry .......... 19
2.7 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................... 25

Chapter 3: Literature Review ............................................................................. 27
3.1 Chapter Objectives ................................................................................ 27
3.2 Literature Review Design ..................................................................... 27
3.3 Defining Innovation .............................................................................. 29
3.4 Defining Acceptance, Adoption, Resistance and Diffusion .................. 33
3.5 History of Acceptance Research ........................................................... 36
3.6 The Diffusion Paradigm ........................................................................ 37
3.7 Criticism of the Diffusion Paradigm ..................................................... 41
3.8 The Theory of Reasoned Action ........................................................... 41
3.9 Criticism of the Theory of Reasoned Action ......................................... 46
3.10 The Technology Acceptance Model ..................................................... 48
3.11 Criticism of the Technology Acceptance Model ................................... 50
3.12 Current Trends in Innovation Acceptance Research ............................. 50
X Table of Contents

3.13 Review of Empirical Innovation Acceptance Studies ........................... 54
3.14 Main Findings and Implications of Reviewed Studies .......................... 62
3.15 Review of Commercial Innovation Acceptance Studies ....................... 72
3.16 Implications from the Literature Review .............................................. 75
3.17 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................... 78

Chapter 4: Research Approach ........................................................................... 79
4.1 Chapter Objectives ................................................................................ 79
4.2 Understanding Epistemological and Ontological Considerations ......... 79
4.3 Major Philosophical Paradigms in Social Research .............................. 80
4.4 Justification of Postpositivistic Research Approach ............................. 83
4.5 Methodological Considerations............................................................. 84
4.6 Quantitative Research in Social Science ............................................... 84
4.7 Qualitative Research in Social Science ................................................. 85
4.8 Mixed Methods Approaches ................................................................. 86
4.9 Defining a Research Design .................................................................. 89
4.10 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................... 92

Chapter 5: Qualitative Research Approach ........................................................ 93
5.1 Chapter Objectives ................................................................................ 93
5.2 Interview Types..................................................................................... 93
5.3 Decision on Interview Type .................................................................. 95
5.4 Interview Design ................................................................................... 96
5.5 Development of the Interviewer Questions ........................................... 98
5.6 Development of the Interviewer Guide ............................................... 100
5.7 Defining a Recording Concept ............................................................ 103
5.8 Defining a Sample Size ....................................................................... 103
5.9 Interview Participants ......................................................................... 104
5.10 Transcription ....................................................................................... 106
5.11 Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................... 108
5.12 Content Analysis of the Interview Transcripts .................................... 110
5.13 Content Analysis Results .................................................................... 114
5.14 Quality Criteria of Qualitative Research ............................................. 116
5.15 Implications from Qualitative Research .............................................. 119
5.16 Summary of Results ............................................................................ 124
5.17 Visualisation of Results....................................................................... 127
5.18 Comparison of Results with Previous Empirical Studies .................... 129
5.19 Integrating Behavioural Models .......................................................... 133
5.20 Hypothesis Refinement ....................................................................... 135
5.21 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................. 138
Table of Contents XI

Chapter 6: Quantitative Research Approach .................................................... 141
6.1 Chapter Objectives .............................................................................. 141
6.2 Survey Types ...................................................................................... 141
6.3 Questionnaire Design .......................................................................... 144
6.4 Questionnaire Contents ....................................................................... 146
6.5 Developing Scales ............................................................................... 148
6.6 Developing a Cover Letter .................................................................. 154
6.7 Operationalisation of Concepts ........................................................... 155
6.8 Constructing the Questionnaire ........................................................... 166
6.9 Pre-Testing the Survey ........................................................................ 169
6.10 Sample Definition ............................................................................... 170
6.11 Sampling Approach ............................................................................. 173
6.11.1 Incentives for Participation ............................................................. 173
6.11.2 Contacting Participants ................................................................... 175
6.11.3 Sampling Bias ................................................................................. 176
6.11.4 Stratified Probability Sampling ...................................................... 177
6.12 Administration of the Survey .............................................................. 178
6.13 Analysis of Sample Population ........................................................... 178
6.14 Descriptive Data Analysis ................................................................... 183
6.15 Hypothesis Testing .............................................................................. 188
6.16 Overview of Statistical Tests .............................................................. 192
6.17 Parametric and Nonparametric Statistics ............................................ 193
6.18 Testing Variable Correlations ............................................................. 195
6.19 Observed and Latent Variables ........................................................... 200
6.20 Factor Analysis Techniques ................................................................ 201
6.21 Factor Analysis of Predictors .............................................................. 203
6.22 Reliability Analysis of the Factors ...................................................... 206
6.23 Regression Analysis ............................................................................ 211
6.24 Developing Factor Scores for Regression Analysis ............................ 212
6.25 Ordinal Regression Analysis ............................................................... 214
6.26 Linear Regression Analysis ................................................................. 221
6.27 Comparison of Ordinal and Linear Regression Model Results ........... 224
6.28 Structural Equation Modelling ............................................................ 225
6.29 Evaluating Model Fit in Structural Equation Modelling ..................... 228
6.30 Evaluating the Quality of the Proposed Model ................................... 231
6.31 Testing for Group Differences ............................................................ 232
6.32 Comparing Innovativeness with Adoption Time ................................ 241
6.33 Chapter Conclusion ............................................................................. 246

Chapter 7: Discussion of Findings ................................................................... 249
7.1 Chapter Objectives .............................................................................. 249