Does Gender Affect Travelers' Intention to Use New Energy Autonomous Vehicles? Evidence from Beijing City, China

Abstract

To explore the factors and paths that influence the willingness to use sharing new energy autonomous vehicles (SNEAVs), this paper incorporates the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) as the basic frameworks, with gender serving as a moderating variable. Seven psychological latent variables, including performance expectancy, social influence, hedonic motivation, price sensitivity, perceived risk, trust in technology, and innovativeness, are considered to examine their effects on behavioral intention. Quantitative data (n = 1082) was collected via an online questionnaire in Beijing. The ordered logit model was used to preliminarily demonstrate the significant impact of gender, with further parameter fitting confirming the good fit of the psychological latent variable model. Path analysis results reveals that gender influences the willingness to use SNEAVs in multiple aspects. Specially, females are more significantly influenced by hedonic motivation, whereas males prioritize performance expectation. Furthermore, price sensitivity positively has a positive impact on male behavioral intention, but a negative effect on female behavioral intention. Additionally, trust in technology plays a more important role for women compared to men. These findings are crucial in promoting the development of SNEAVs.