Abstract

The expansion of social media forces the communication of science and scientific journals to adapt to this new environment. Previous studies and theoretical models such as Utaut and Utaut2 have proven that there is a relationship between the perception of future performance of technology (performance expectancy), the difficulty of use (effort expectancy) and the social influence to which the individual is subject, on the real use of technology, but there is still scarce research about the mechanisms that cause this effect. Starting with Utaut, the hypothesis is that there is an indirect conditional effect of the performance expectancy, the effort expectancy and social influence, over the actual use of social media in scientific journals, where the effect is driven through the intention of use and the size of the effect is moderated by gender and age. A survey was carried out on 300 editors of the top 20 in Social Sciences of the Google Scholar ranking. Confirming partially Utaut, the results of moderated mediation show that performance expectancy and social influence of editors affect the use of Facebook and Twitter, through the intention to use, but it is not the case of ResearchGate, Academia and LinkedIn. There is not enough evidence about the moderation of age and gender.

Abstract

The acceptance of automated vehicles is a necessary condition for realizing the benefits of road vehicle automation. The objective of the thesis was to examine the acceptance of automated vehicles feeding public transport. The thesis investigated the factors contributing to user acceptance, as well as the interrelations of those factors. It was also investigated how acceptance differs across socio-demographic groups and countries. Online questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, a systematic literature review, and accompanied test rides were performed. Participants were asked to imagine the use of automated vehicles (Chapter 2) or physically experienced them in mixed traffic environments in Berlin (Germany) and Trikala (Greece) (Chapters 3–5, 7–8)....

Abstract

research into innovative forms of automated transportation systems gains momentum, it is important that we develop an understanding of the factors that will impact the adoption of these systems. In an effort to address this issue, the European project CityMobil2 is collecting data around large-scale demonstrations of Automated Road Transport Systems (ARTS) in a number of cities across Europe. For these systems to be successful, user acceptance is vital. The current study used the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to investigate the factors which might influence acceptance of ARTS vehicles, which were operational in two locations in Europe. The results indicate that the UTAUT constructs of performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence were all useful predictors of behavioural intentions to use ARTS, with performance expectancy having the strongest impact. However, it would appear that other factors are also needed in order for the model to strongly predict behavioural intentions in an automated transport context. Based on these findings, a number of implications for developers and ideas for future research are suggested.