Shifting perspectives: the unexplored perception of secondary stakeholders on autonomous driving cars

In the rapidly evolving landscape of fully autonomous driving cars (level 5 automation, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers), the research has predominantly focused on direct users, often overlooking the perspectives of the secondary stakeholders – the subjects who may not necessarily be the primary adopters but that are inevitably impacted by this transformative technology. Following the stakeholder theory by Freeman and its latest developments, this work focuses on the perception of the impact of these vehicles from the viewpoint of these neglected stakeholders, encouraging a deeper understanding of the benefits’ level because of their personal interpretation. The selected methodology is a literature review composed of a systematic search performed following the PRISMA model, and a conceptual review with the aim of discussing critically the results. This discussion is later enriched by the aggregate outcome of a survey aimed at collecting the common perception about this technology in the selected social tissue. To shape the analysis in a comprehensive way, Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line concept was taken as a general guideline. Starting from this theoretical principle, the entire structure of this work has been built according to the typical three-partite subdivision: Environmental, Social and Economic. The main result of this research is to highlight the discrepancy between the recognition of benefits of such technological shift on a higher level, and their perception at a micro-level. This work underlines the significance of considering an additional perspective on advantages and disadvantages of autonomous cars’ diffusion, including the individuals who will not be the immediate users. A shift in perspective emphasizes the micro-dimensions that influence secondary stakeholders’ perception of this new technology. Inclusion of stakeholders is thus imperative, not only to mitigate the misalignment between technological assessment and personal perceptions, but also to facilitate initial engagements with this new mobility paradigm.