[ Consumers accept self-driving cars, but not robots and drones ]

A recent study found that consumers do not fully accept automated parcel delivery. And if they do, they prefer self-driving vehicles to drones or robots.

First, some facts:

• Amazon aims to make 10,000 deliveries using drones in Europe this year.
• Walmart plans to expand its drone delivery services to an additional 60,000 homes in the United States this year.
• Companies around the world are investing more into research and development of drone deliveries.

However, important questions arise: are consumers ready to accept this change as the new norm? And are such services likely to be implemented in currently planned urban spaces?

That’s exactly what a recent study from Northwestern University’s Mobility and Behavior Lab, led by Amanda Stathopoulos, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, addresses. Published in the journal Scientific Reports, the work was intended to indicate whether consumers are ready for robots to replace delivery drivers in the form of automated vehicles, drones and robots. It turned out that there is still a lot to do in this matter and we are not fully prepared for what the future “technology of everyday life” will bring. 

The research team developed a survey to assess the preferences of 692 U.S. respondents, asking questions about different delivery options and variables such as delivery speed, package handling and overall perceptions. Researchers noted a “complex and multifaceted” relationship between behavior and acceptance of near-future technologies for automated parcel delivery. Overall, consumers are more willing to accept an automated vehicle as a substitute for a human package delivery person than to tolerate drones and robots. But interestingly, as delivery speeds increased and prices dropped, the likelihood of accepting “robotic” solutions increased. 

So perhaps the “strangeness” of technology is less important than purely pragmatic factors?

Stathopoulos, commenting on the study results, referred to a cognitive paradox. Because on the one hand, as consumers, we notice problems related to the delivery services market: pollution, poor working conditions in warehouses and increased traffic on the streets. On the other hand, we are not yet at a stage where we can fully appreciate the convenience and benefits of fully automated deliveries. Yet the food delivery and e-commerce market is constantly growing. Other subscription services for physical products are also coming into play.

Meanwhile, social acceptance lags behind this development. The authors of the study believe that as a society we should consider legal and planning solutions related to the operation of automated deliveries in individual countries and regions.