Consumer preferences and barriers in the adoption of drone delivery services : a comprehensive analysis

Dabić, Marina (author), Ferreira, João J. M. (author), Marques Lopes, João (author), Gomes, Sofia (author)

Drone parcel delivery is an emerging topic with drone suppliers and retailers concerned due to their challenges and implications. Despite the many advantages associated with the drone delivery service, there are still obstacles to its acceptance by consumers, which is why it is necessary to understand their motivations. This study aims to analyze consumer behavior in the adoption of drone services. Specifically, the study analyzes the influence of perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived privacy risk on consumers' attitudes toward drone delivery services and their intention to adopt this service. The sample, collected through a questionnaire, comprises answers from 1,108 Portuguese citizens. The Partial Least Squares method was used to test the purpose of this study. The results suggest that consumers' willingness to adopt drone delivery services is positively affected by the perception of ease of use and usefulness. At the same time, it is negatively influenced by perceived privacy risk. In addition, consumers' attitudes significantly influence consumers' intention to use these services in the future. Geographic adoption of drone delivery services is still limited. This study allows us to deepen our knowledge about the potential consumers of this service, which is very useful for its more universal adoption, and we propose to test the extended TAM model for ease of use of drone technologies by Portuguese consumers.

• Language: English
• Keywords: online shopping, purchasing, consumer behaviour, consumer behavior, drone delivery services, perceived privacy risk (PPR), perceived usefulness (PU), perception of ease of use
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 47-61
• Numbering: Vol. 72
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-176311
• UDC: 339.1
• ISSN on article: 0018-9391
• DOI: 10.1109/TEM.2024.3494051
• COBISS.SI-ID: 215348483
• Publication date in RUL: 27.11.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: IEEE transactions on engineering management
• Shortened title: IEEE trans. eng. manage.
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• ISSN: 0018-9391
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8721669

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: spletna trgovina, nakup, vedenje potrošnikov

Projects

• Funder: FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.
• Project number: UIDB/04630/2020
• Name: Research Unit in Business Sciences
• Acronym: NECE