Consumer preferences and barriers in the adoption of drone delivery services

Drone parcel delivery is an emerging topic with drone suppliers and retailers concerned due to their challenges and implications. Despite the many advantages associated with the drone delivery service, there are still obstacles to its acceptance by consumers, which is why it is necessary to understand their motivations. This study aims to analyze consumer behavior in the adoption of drone services. Specifically, the study analyzes the influence of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived privacy risk on consumers' attitudes toward drone delivery services and their intention to adopt this service. The sample, collected through a questionnaire, comprises answers from 1,108 Portuguese citizens. The Partial Least Squares method was used to test the purpose of this study. The results suggest that consumers' willingness to adopt drone delivery services is positively affected by the perception of ease of use and usefulness. At the same time, it is negatively influenced by perceived privacy risk. In addition, consumers' attitudes significantly influence consumers' intention to use these services in the future. Geographic adoption of drone delivery services is still limited. This study allows us to deepen our knowledge about the potential consumers of this service, which is very useful for its more universal adoption, and we propose to test the extended TAM model for ease of use of drone technologies by Portuguese consumers.