Publications
5678910118 of 13
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Tempered Enthusiasm: Consumer Perceptions of Autonomous Delivery Services
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6326-1908
Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2199-7412
Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4441-6334
National Transport Research Organisation, Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1004-7932
Show others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: Sustainability, E-ISSN 2071-1050, Vol. 18, no 12, article id 6104Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The rapid growth of online shopping has increased demand for home deliveries, leading to sustainability issues and logistical challenges such as labour shortages and congestion. Autonomous delivery vehicles, including drones, street robots, autonomous vans, and mobile vending machines, are emerging as potential solutions. Understanding consumers’ perceptions of these technologies is critical for sustainable implementation. This exploratory study aimed to examine consumer reactions to emerging autonomous delivery services, providing insights into how consumers may respond to autonomous delivery systems encompassing multiple vehicle modes and the resulting policy implications. Eight online focus groups (n = 55) were conducted with a diverse range of participants to examine community attitudes to autonomous delivery services. Participants were shown videos depicting various autonomous delivery methods to foster informed responses. Thematic analysis of the transcripts identified recurring themes relating to participants’ preferences, concerns, and expectations. While participants had some concerns, they were largely receptive to using autonomous delivery services. Positive reactions centred around: (i) convenience, (ii) cost reductions, and (iii) novelty. Identified concerns included: (i) job losses, (ii) practical limitations of the delivery devices, (iii) degradation of urban environments, and (iv) facilitation of unhealthy lifestyles. Overall, the results suggest autonomous delivery systems have the potential to be popular, and proactive government policies are thus likely to be needed to ensure they are implemented in a manner that aligns with community expectations and minimises any negative sustainability outcomes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2026. Vol. 18, no 12, article id 6104
Keywords [en]
autonomous vehicles, deliveries, services, consumers, policy
National Category
Transport Systems and Logistics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:vti:diva-22824DOI: 10.3390/su18126104ISI: 001803872000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105043015559OAI: oai:DiVA.org:vti-22824DiVA, id: diva2:2089176
Funder
Australian Research Council, DP230102623Available from: 2026-07-31 Created: 2026-07-31 Last updated: 2026-07-31Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(1003 kB)6 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 1003 kBChecksum SHA-512
02ca27b5dd28164ade3db8ddabea1a32d37d1fa4f1df5f5003b36b6653e2d0cb68ba257aebf9ae6882911c30608a8b66ec42f99373de8bd65e4537115affaaa0
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Anund, Anna

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Booth, LeonNelson, JohnZhang, YutingKarl, CharlesAnund, AnnaPettigrew, Simone
By organisation
The Human in the Transport system.
In the same journal
Sustainability
Transport Systems and Logistics

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 73 hits
5678910118 of 13
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf