THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED RISK ON THE USE INTENTION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.

The study of autonomous vehicles (AV) is justified by the promises of better urban mobility, safety, and climate change. The objective of this research was to verify the effects of perceived consumer risk on the intention to use AV and the possible influence of 'novelty' and 'anxiety.' The research sample, 340 administration students from a Brazilian university, was quasi-experiment. The sample is divided into two groups: an experimental group with access to video on AV and another group without any information. For the experimental group, information is a mitigating factor for the perceived psychological risk, which is what most influences the Intention to use an AV. On the other hand, the novelty affects the consumer's Intention to use AV. The main contribution of this study was an innovative approach to consumer behavior for analyzing the influence of 'novelty' and 'psychological risk' on the Intention to use AV.