Consumer Acceptance of Drones for Last-Mile Delivery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The number of industries using drones is increasing. Although early research was conducted on drones, the prior literature has not emphasized consumer adoption of drones for item delivery. Consequently, this study investigates whether customers are open to receiving packages from drones. This study also examines the elements that influence customers’ willingness to adopt drone package delivery. This study fills a gap in the logistics and service research by examining people’s concerns regarding using drones. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) serves as the basis for the conceptual framework. A self-administered online survey is deployed. The results demonstrate that perceived privacy risks negatively influence performance and effort expectancy as well as facilitating conditions and social influence. This study further validates the UTAUT2 by confirming the influence of performance expectancy and facilitating conditions on attitudes toward adopting drones. Moreover, this study confirms the positive influence of attitude on behavior. This study has managerial implications, one of which is the suggestion that the deployment and use of drones should minimize interference with people’s privacy.