Why Do Users Switch from Ride-Hailing to Robotaxi? Exploring Sustainable Mobility Decisions Through a Push–Pull–Mooring Perspective

Robotaxi services represent a major step in the commercialization of autonomous driving, offering efficiency, consistency, and safety benefits. However, despite technological advances, their large-scale adoption is far from guaranteed. Most urban users already rely on mature ride-hailing platforms such as Didi and Uber, making the real behavioral question not whether to adopt Robotaxi, but whether to migrate from existing services. Prior studies based on TAM, UTAUT, or trust models have primarily examined users’ initial adoption decisions, overlooking the substitution behavior that better captures how people shift between competing mobility services in real contexts. This study addresses this gap by applying the Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) framework to examine users’ migration from ride-hailing to Robotaxi services, based on survey data collected from 1206 respondents across four Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wuhan). The model was tested using structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis (SEM–MGA). Push factors reflect negative experiences with ride-hailing, including social anxiety and insecurity caused by drivers’ behaviors; pull factors emphasize Robotaxi’ autonomy and service reliability; while mooring factors capture habitual ride-hailing use and perceived Robotaxi risk. Findings indicate that push and pull factors significantly promote migration intentions, whereas mooring factors hinder them. Among all factors, perceived risk exerted the strongest negative effect (β = −0.36), underscoring its critical role as a barrier to Robotaxi migration. Gender differences are also evident, with women more sensitive to risks and men more influenced by reliability. By situating adoption within a migration context, this study enriches high-risk innovation theory and offers practical guidance for designing gender-sensitive and user-specific promotion strategies.