A Causal Inference on the Effects of Attention to Media Content About Autonomous Vehicles in the Influence of Presumed Media Influence Model

Applying the influence of presumed media influence model into an autonomous vehicle (AV) context, this study examines how media viewers’ attention to content about risks and benefits of AVs affects their presumptions of influence of the content on others, perceptions of trustworthiness of the technology, and intention to ride in AVs. Through cross-lagged analyses of two-wave panel data (n wave1 = 1,306; n wave2 = 650), this study found causal evidence for the projection effect and impersonal impact. Notably, this study also found causal evidence for the consonance effect: viewers perceiving trustworthiness of AVs after developing intention to ride in AVs.