Based on current studies related to public perception, technology acceptance, and risk communication for autonomous driving, this study examines emotional and cognitive processes of the general public regarding actual crash incidents involving Tesla's Autopilot technology. This analysis is conducted for comments surrounding three highly viewed YouTube videos on Tesla accident incidents using topic modeling analysis, sentiment analysis, and comparison of network analysis. This study clarifies the existence of four polarized themes surrounding public perception: Technological Skepticism, Satire and Comparison, Safety Concerns, and Attribution of Responsibility. Additionally, sentiment analysis indicates primarily negative emotional undertones for comments surrounding Technological Skepticism and safety concerns but shows higher levels of Rationality and Trust for comments related to Attribution of Responsibility. Utilizing Quadratic Assignment Procedure analysis, it is apparent that differences do exist for the emotional composition of comments among each of the three analyzed videos, verifying media framing's influence on overall sentiment among the masses. This study serves to validate empirical research for risk communication and corporate crisis management for Autonomous Driving Technology and develops for this field of study its "Incident-Emotional Response" paradigm and contributes to empirical advancements for emotional processes relating to acceptance for new technology development.
Research Article
Open Access