The Italian Validation of the Extended Technology Acceptance Model Scale for Automated Vehicles (AV-TAM)

The popular technology acceptance model (TAM) helps understanding factors affecting users’ acceptance/rejection of the technology. This study aims to assess the dimensionality and subscale interactions of the Italian version of the Zhang and colleagues’ extension of the TAM scale in the context of the acceptance of automated vehicles (AVs). This 23-item scale, which measures Usefulness, Ease of Use, Privacy Risks, Safety Risks, Initial Attitude, Trust and Behavioral Intention to Use would prove useful to better understand the attitude towards AV, a technology that is expected to transform mobility in the near future. After an analysis of the content and relevance of the scales, we analysed the responses of 200 Italian-speaking individuals. Factor Analytic, exploratory Structural Equation (eSEM) and Rasch Models were employed to validate the TAM items and subscales, and to examine their interrelations. Various models were used to investigate the factor structure of the scales, including a simpler Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), a Bifactor CFA, as well as two eSEM based on Zhang’s theoretical framework and empirical findings, which diverged in the original study. Results indicate that most items demonstrated acceptable fit indices and the questionnaire maintained its overall factor structure in the Italian context. The interactions between latent factors, however, differed from both Zhang’s theoretical framework and empirical findings, suggesting culture-specific dynamics in the attitude towards AVs. Future perspectives and development of TAM extensions are discussed with particular attention to the relations between variables, test-retest reliability, and the association of each construct with behavioural intention to use AVs.