Consumers, Wary of Self-Driving Cars, Didn't Use to Trust Computers Either

The report surveying 20000 new car buyers from 10 countries is the third annual Ipsos Global Mobility Navigator Syndicated Study The market research company released some of its findings on autonomous driving earlier this monthquotThe study confirms new car buyers are simply not ready to hand over the driving responsibilities to their vehicle even for a short amount of timequot said Todd Markusic vice president of Ipsos Mobility quotA key and possibly overlooked revelation is that 70 percent of new car buyers simply enjoy driving They have spent a lot of money on their vehicles and want to drive them That is the featurequotIs it just me or does the logic swing both ways That 70 percent bought cars with steering wheels so of course they want to drive them But the same consumers who39d just bought an autonomous vehicle amp8212 minus pedals and steering wheel amp8212 would be eager to try out that technology And maybe they39d find they didn39t miss driving Markusic did say via email quotI do think once people experience the technology they will be impressed with it and be more willing to accept itquotConsumers originally resisted the personal computer wondering what on earth they39d do with it And some were actively scared of them According to the Atlantic in the 1980s only nerds had computers Paul Strassman39s 1985 book Information Payoff reports that gaining access to the arcane science of computing was seen quotmuch more like taking up a musical instrument than following instructions on how to use an electrical appliance such as a toasterquot Subsets of computer anxiety included fear of breaking the thing looking stupid and losing powerCharles Rubin of Personal Computing advised wary consumers back then quotIf you39re trying to use a personal computer or are considering using one remember Allow yourself to be a little ignorant for a while Plan to spend some time learning give the computer a chance to prove itself before you decide you can39t use it take things a step at a time make sure you read the documentation carefully and finally don39t forget that you39re in charge not the computerquotIpsos39 Markusic doesn39t agree with the comparison to personal computing quotThere was never a feature related to personal computers where you hit a button and then you didn39t operate the personal computerquot he told MediaVillage True but my point is that with autonomy consumers are entering a world that scares them with benefits that aren39t yet tangibleDriving is certainly more fun than learning computer code amp8212 at least in theory quotI think people like the idea of driving in the abstractquot Sam Abuelsamid principal analyst at Navigant Research in Detroit told MediaVillage quotIf they actually consider the reality of the accumulated miles they would probably find that it wasn39t a particularly enjoyable experience Commuting in bumpertobumper traffic is not fun for anyone and it39s a problem that is getting worsequotBut Abuelsamid doesn39t fault the current public perception quotPeople don39t understand or trust the technology yet and they probably shouldn39tquot he said The fact is that the systems on cars now amp8212 such as Cadillac39s Super Cruise selfdriving highway feature amp8212 are cool and interesting but are representative of an industry in its infancy like userunfriendly computers in the 1980s Selfdriving tech isn39t ready to be the focus of a major marketing push and such a campaign could backfireamp160quotAdvanced driverassistance systems ADAS are getting very good but people still need to pay attention because lane keeping especially is very inconsistent Highly automated driving is even further off from widespread adoptionquot Abuelsamid added quotThat said I think automated mobility services amp8212 when they are robust amp8212 will convince most people that they don39t need to drive most of the time They can reserve the actual driving for the times when they actually enjoy itquotAgreed but it might take a while for public perception to reach that point and for the technology to mature Only 15 percent of survey respondents say they know quota fair amountquot about selfdriving cars and 10 percent have any experience with it Given that information it39s not surprising that only 30 percent of Americans surveyed have a positive impression of autonomous mode They39re wary of something they don39t yet fully understandToday the Ipsos survey said only 36 percent of buyers globally would consider buying an autonomyready car Only 12 percent would quotdefinitely considerquot it But quotautonomous modequot in the way people think of it amp8212 sitting in the back with your cellphone amp8212 isn39t available yet anywayIf a fully autonomous car was available only 6 percent of today39s new car buyers would choose to purchase one the survey said Another analogy Most likely only 6 percent of horse owners would have considered switching to a horseless carriage in say 1898 when cars were noisy smelly and wholly undependable Horses were a slow and a lot of work but that was the devil they knewBut then the stats get interesting Fiftyseven percent of respondents would buy a car with an autonomous mode that can be switched on and off amp8212 assuming it didn39t cost any more a big if That indicates the public wants to remain in control That39s natural when technology is in transition we want an quotoutquot such as a route to reinstall the old desktop architecture if the new one is too confusingConsumers don39t expect to see fully autonomous cars on the market until 2023 the survey said and that39s actually optimistic given the considerable hurdles remainingThe message is that consumers are not ready for full autonomy Markusic to me quotOriginal equipment manufacturers need to understand that not everyone is going to be excited about autonomous driving given that so many people still really enjoy driving You can39t assume that just because you offer autonomous mode people will automatically want itquotBut the same consumers appear to be open to features that help with the more tedious aspects of driving then get turned off when not needed Marketers should be wary though of overselling technology that is very much still evolvingClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Consumers, Wary of Self-Driving Cars, Didn't Use to Trust Computers Either

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Jim Motavalli

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Consumers, Wary of Self-Driving Cars, Didn't Use to Trust Computers Either

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