Incorporating personality traits for the study of user acceptance of electric micromobility-sharing services

Electric micromobility-sharing services (EMS) have emerged as a promising mobility tool for tackling transportation problems. Understanding the drivers of user acceptance of EMS is essential for proper deployment. However, there is no consensus in the literature on the effects of psychological factors on EMS adoption, and little research has considered personality traits to capture individual differences. To fill this research gap, we administered a survey through a Dutch panel that integrated the Big Five personality traits into a user acceptance framework and applied structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate user acceptance of EMS. The quantitative analysis reveals that three UTAUT factors (social influence, performance expectancy, and hedonic motivation) have strong positive direct effects on user acceptance. Among the Big Five personality traits, openness and extraversion have significant but weaker total effects, while other personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism) have no significant effects. It is also found that young people and residents of large cities have a higher intention to adopt EMS, while the majority who are highly satisfied with the status quo transportation modes have a lower intention to use EMS for short trips. The analysis results offer crucial insights into crafting tailored strategies to deploy EMS.