# Buy and/or Pay Disparity: Evidence from Fully Autonomous Vehicles
## 5 Discussion
### Overall Discussion  
FAV technology is a newly introduced technology that needs broader public acceptance. Thus, it would face approval and disapproval from the public. People can respond to such technology by considering purchasing it as consumers (in the form of WTB) or show higher monetary appreciation (in the form of PV). If factors correlated with WTB are not linked or offer different implications to PV, then WTB and the PV of FAVs should be separately examined. To this end, this study validates it using structural equation models. Our findings allow us to answer the questions suggested in Section 1:  
Our results indicate that environmental awareness, the advantages of using FAVs, fear of potential accidents, and socioeconomic factors are correlated with the WTB and PV of FAVs. We found a form of WTA-PV disparity. Those who are highly interested in the conservation of the natural environment may purchase FAVs but would show lower PV than those who are not interested. On the other hand, those who are interested in pollution alleviations show high WTB and PV.  
Then, why does WTB-PV disparity occur? One may think it is natural to have higher PV if a person has higher WTB and vice versa. However, previous works in marketing, finance and economics state that WTB is positively correlated with social externalities [90], particularly for environmentally conscious consumers. This is because they perceive their social roles in which they are acting [91]. These people are usually interested in resolving overall social problems [92; 93; 94; 95]. Particularly in the field of transportation, environmentally cautious consumers would be early adopters of new technologies (such as autonomous vehicles and battery electric vehicles) that may improve society even if the new technology is not yet mature [96; 97; 98]. Those who perceive themselves as environmentally conscious, therefore, may choose to purchase if they regard FAV technology as beneficial for the overall society by reducing emissions and congestion and providing convenient services. Thus, those who are interested in the conservation of the natural environment may show higher WTB.  
What kinds of factors are correlated with higher PV? Previous works [99; 100; 101; 102] answer this question by showing that PV is more closely correlated to 'private (or financial) benefits' rather than'social benefits'. In other words, consumers may not show higher PV if the benefits from FAVs are not directly correlated to their private interests regardless of the benefits that society would receive. In sum, WTB is positively correlated with the advantages that society overall acquires, and this relationship may be powerful to those who are environmentally cautious. On the other hand, PV is correlated to the direct and private benefits that the individual would receive, as mentioned above.  
In that sense, we can explain our results as follows: (i) those who are highly interested in preserving the natural environment may not appreciate FAVs; they would show lower PV. This is because FAVs do not have direct advantages that contribute to preserving the natural environment. For example, increasing the market share of FAVs would not conserve biodiversity or increase the size of green parks. Meanwhile, those interested in conserving the natural environment are interested in overall social issues and believe adopting FAVs would better society; these people would purchase FAVs and therefore would show higher WTB. (ii) Those who fear FAVs are fearful of accidents; they would be reluctant to purchase them, and such concern would be negatively correlated with PV.  
By recognizing the form of the WTB-PV disparity, our result suggests that governments and industries may take an additional look at consumers with such disparities. Doing so could continue to expand the market share of FAVs in the future.