Why Consumers Resist Urban Air Mobility: A Hybrid SEM-fsQCA Approach

Urban Air Mobility (UAM), represented by drones and electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOLs), has facilitated the emergence of a nascent and more sustainable intra- and inter-city transportation modality. Nevertheless, extant research has predominantly concentrated on consumers’ intentions to embrace UAM from the viewpoints of technology acceptance and diffusion, disregarding the crucial aspect of resistance. To address this disparity, this study put forward a framework integrating the Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT) and prior experience to examine the antecedents and potential strategies regarding UAM resistance. Data were collected via an online survey and subsequently analysed using a symmetrical PLS path model and an asymmetrical fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). It was disclosed that usage, value, risk, and tradition barriers, in conjunction with AV and trust, were significant antecedents of consumers’ resistance intention towards UAM. The results of fsQCA offered six sufficient solutions that might account for the resistance to UAM. All four perceived barriers constitute a sufficient condition for UAM, with the risk barrier being the most persuasive one, while Autonomous Vehicle (AV) experience and trust are only the peripheral causal conditions. The findings are anticipated to assist manufacturers, operators, and the government in mitigating consumers’ resistance towards UAM.