Evaluating the impact of decals on driver stereotype perception and exploration of personalization of automated vehicles via digital decals

Abstract

Traffic behavior and its perception is shaped by various factors such as vehicle color or size. Decals are used to express information about the owner's beliefs or are intended to be funny. In the future, with external displays on (automated) vehicles, individualized customization could be even more pronounced. While some research looked at the messages these decals convey, it is unclear how these decals influence the perception of surrounding drivers on the operator of the vehicle. We gathered data on decals in 29 cities in 8 countries. A thematic analysis unveiled 17 dominant themes among decals. Subsequently, we investigated effects of decals of 9 supra-regional common themes in an online study (N=64) finding that participants attributed different characteristics to the driver of a vehicle with a decal based on the type of decal and the participants' country of origin. Additionally, a Virtual Reality study (N=16) revealed diverse opinions on future usage of such personalization options.