IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v208y2026ics0965856426001060.html

Consumer preferences for uncrewed aerial vehicles delivery service

Author

Listed:
  • Ardeshiri, Ali
  • Vij, Akshay
  • Wiedemann, Mirjam

Abstract

The rapid advancement of technology has led to the emergence of innovative solutions in delivery services, notably unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. This study investigates consumer preferences for UAV-based delivery services using data from a nationwide stated choice experiment conducted with 1,000 Australian respondents. The experiment covered four delivery contexts − letters, food, medicine, and general goods − by varying key attributes such as delivery time, cost, and item type, with an aim for both geographic and demographic representativeness.

Suggested Citation

  • Ardeshiri, Ali & Vij, Akshay & Wiedemann, Mirjam, 2026. "Consumer preferences for uncrewed aerial vehicles delivery service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:208:y:2026:i:c:s0965856426001060
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2026.104965
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856426001060
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2026.104965?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valeska Engesser & Evy Rombaut & Lieselot Vanhaverbeke & Philippe Lebeau, 2023. "Autonomous Delivery Solutions for Last-Mile Logistics Operations: A Literature Review and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Devari, Aashwinikumar & Nikolaev, Alexander G. & He, Qing, 2017. "Crowdsourcing the last mile delivery of online orders by exploiting the social networks of retail store customers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 105-122.
    3. Smith, Angela & Dickinson, Janet E. & Marsden, Greg & Cherrett, Tom & Oakey, Andrew & Grote, Matt, 2022. "Public acceptance of the use of drones for logistics: The state of play and moving towards more informed debate," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Pahwa, Anmol & Jaller, Miguel, 2022. "A cost-based comparative analysis of different last-mile strategies for e-commerce delivery," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    5. Aydin, Burchan, 2019. "Public acceptance of drones: Knowledge, attitudes, and practice," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    6. Scarpa, R. & Thiene, M. & Train, K., 2008. "Appendix to Utility in WTP space: a tool to address confounding random scale effects in destination choice to the Alps," American Journal of Agricultural Economics APPENDICES, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(4), pages 1-9, January.
    7. Vij, Akshay & Walker, Joan L., 2014. "Preference endogeneity in discrete choice models," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 90-105.
    8. Lemardelé, Clément & Estrada, Miquel & Pagès, Laia & Bachofner, Mónika, 2021. "Potentialities of drones and ground autonomous delivery devices for last-mile logistics," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    9. Jiyoon Park & Solhee Kim & Kyo Suh, 2018. "A Comparative Analysis of the Environmental Benefits of Drone-Based Delivery Services in Urban and Rural Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Kim, Sang Hyun, 2020. "Choice model based analysis of consumer preference for drone delivery service," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Yu-Ju Tu & Selwyn Piramuthu, 2024. "Security and privacy risks in drone-based last mile delivery," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 617-630, September.
    12. Zhang, Guowei & Zhu, Ning & Ma, Shoufeng & Xia, Jun, 2021. "Humanitarian relief network assessment using collaborative truck-and-drone system," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    13. Salama, Mohamed R. & Srinivas, Sharan, 2022. "Collaborative truck multi-drone routing and scheduling problem: Package delivery with flexible launch and recovery sites," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    14. Joshuah K. Stolaroff & Constantine Samaras & Emma R. O’Neill & Alia Lubers & Alexandra S. Mitchell & Daniel Ceperley, 2018. "Energy use and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of drones for commercial package delivery," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    15. Abhijeet Kumar & Victor Prybutok & Vikas Kumar Reddy Sangana, 2025. "Environmental Implications of Drone-Based Delivery Systems: A Structured Literature Review," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-26, March.
    16. Chiang, Wen-Chyuan & Li, Yuyu & Shang, Jennifer & Urban, Timothy L., 2019. "Impact of drone delivery on sustainability and cost: Realizing the UAV potential through vehicle routing optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1164-1175.
    17. Reece A. Clothier & Dominique A. Greer & Duncan G. Greer & Amisha M. Mehta, 2015. "Risk Perception and the Public Acceptance of Drones," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(6), pages 1167-1183, June.
    18. Joshuah K. Stolaroff & Constantine Samaras & Emma R. O’Neill & Alia Lubers & Alexandra S. Mitchell & Daniel Ceperley, 2018. "Author Correction: Energy use and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of drones for commercial package delivery," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-1, December.
    19. Tamakloe, Reuben & Zhang, Kaihan & Atandzi, Jonathan & Park, Dongjoo, 2024. "Examining urban delivery service user profiles and determinants of drone delivery adoption in Ghana considering usage before and after the COVID-19 pandemic," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 279-294.
    20. Çalışır, Duran & Ekici, Selcuk & Midilli, Adnan & Karakoc, T. Hikmet, 2023. "Benchmarking environmental impacts of power groups used in a designed UAV: Hybrid hydrogen fuel cell system versus lithium-polymer battery drive system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(PB).
    21. Riccardo Scarpa & Mara Thiene & Kenneth Train, 2008. "Utility in Willingness to Pay Space: A Tool to Address Confounding Random Scale Effects in Destination Choice to the Alps," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(4), pages 994-1010.
    22. Lin Tan, Lynn Kai & Lim, Beng Chong & Park, Guihyun & Low, Kin Huat & Seng Yeo, Victor Chuan, 2021. "Public acceptance of drone applications in a highly urbanized environment," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schmidt, Sebastian & Saraceni, Adriana, 2024. "Consumer acceptance of drone-based technology for last mile delivery," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Amine Masmoudi, M. & Mancini, Simona & Baldacci, Roberto & Kuo, Yong-Hong, 2022. "Vehicle routing problems with drones equipped with multi-package payload compartments," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    3. Kähler, Svantje T. & Abben, Thomas & Luna-Rodriguez, Aquiles & Tomat, Miriam & Jacobsen, Thomas, 2022. "An assessment of the acceptance and aesthetics of UAVs and helicopters through an experiment and a survey," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Sabino, Hullysses & Almeida, Rodrigo V.S. & Moraes, Lucas Baptista de & Silva, Walber Paschoal da & Guerra, Raphael & Malcher, Carlos & Passos, Diego & Passos, Fernanda G.O., 2022. "A systematic literature review on the main factors for public acceptance of drones," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Zhang, Juan & Yang, Liu & Campbell, James F., 2026. "Economic and environmental impacts of integrated drone delivery systems," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    6. ElSayed, Mo & Foda, Ahmed & Mohamed, Moataz, 2024. "The impact of civil airspace policies on the viability of adopting autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles in last-mile applications," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 37-54.
    7. Meyer-Waarden, Lars & Cloarec, Julien & Salgado, Stéphane & Favarin, Vincent, 2026. "Sustainable last-mile delivery: Understanding perceived benefits and risks of AI-automated delivery drones in France," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Koh, Le Yi & Lee, Jia Yi & Wang, Xueqin & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2023. "Urban drone adoption: Addressing technological, privacy and task–technology fit concerns," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Pahwa, Anmol & Jaller, Miguel, 2025. "Assessing the sustainability of last-mile distribution strategies to manage expedited shipping with dynamic and stochastic demand," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    10. Xu, Wei & Wang, Zhixiao & Zheng, Zhenjie & Wang, Zhengli & Yang, Hai, 2026. "Integrated routing of drones and public transportation vehicles for simultaneous parcel pickup and delivery," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    11. Yanghee Kim & Leishuo Wang & Jinho Noh & Taewoo Roh, 2025. "Exploring the role of innovation diffusion and trust transfer on technology acceptance: intention to use drone delivery service in China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(3), pages 357-384, July.
    12. Nyaaba, Albert Apotele & Ayamga, Matthew, 2021. "Intricacies of medical drones in healthcare delivery: Implications for Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    13. Pahwa, Anmol & Jaller, Miguel, 2022. "A cost-based comparative analysis of different last-mile strategies for e-commerce delivery," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    14. Dukkanci, Okan & Campbell, James F. & Kara, Bahar Y., 2024. "Facility location decisions for drone delivery: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(2), pages 397-418.
    15. Li, Xiangyu & Dang, Anrong, 2024. "Spatial Patterns of Drone Adoption: Insights from Communities in Southern California," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    16. Jung, Sunghun, 2025. "MILP-based cost and time-competitive vehicle routing problem for last-mile delivery service using a swarm of UAVs and UGVs," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    17. Smith, Angela & Dickinson, Janet E. & Marsden, Greg & Cherrett, Tom & Oakey, Andrew & Grote, Matt, 2022. "Public acceptance of the use of drones for logistics: The state of play and moving towards more informed debate," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. Hu, Zhangchen & Chen, Heng & Lyons, Eric & Solak, Senay & Zink, Michael, 2024. "Towards sustainable UAV operations: Balancing economic optimization with environmental and social considerations in path planning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    19. Kotzab, Herbert & Yumurtacı Hüseyinoğlu, Işık Özge & Şen, Irmak & Mena, Carlos, 2024. "Exploring home delivery service attributes: Sustainability versus delivery expectations during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Pahwa, Anmol & Jaller, Miguel, 2023. "Assessing last-mile distribution resilience under demand disruptions," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:208:y:2026:i:c:s0965856426001060. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.