Motivated to Use: Beliefs and Motivation Influencing the Acceptance and Use of Assistance and Navigation Systems

More and more technical systems enter the vehicle impacting drivers' experiences. In the human-centered design, an understanding of influencing factors for acceptance and usage is crucial to align in-vehicle technology with the user needs. Addressing the underlying psychological processes, this work modelled drivers' usage intentions with motivational regulations (SDT), the TAM, and the UTAUT. An online study with 319 German drivers was conducted examining drivers' positive or negative experiences with assistance and infotainment systems in the vehicle. In linear regressions, the TAM and UTAUT predicted the acceptance equally for assistance and navigation systems. Amotivation, identified regulation, and intrinsic regulation enhanced the prediction of usage intentions by 3.0-15.4% in addition to the UTAUT variables revealing the additional benefit of incorporating the motivational perspective into the modeling of in-vehicle technology acceptance. Future research and practitioners can build upon this theoretical basis and recommendations on improving motivation and well-being.