McLeay, FraserOlya, HesamLichy, JessicaPandit, Ameet2025-11-182025-11-182025Fraser McLeay, Hesam Olya, Jessica Lichy & Ameet Pandit (2025) Revolutionising autonomous vehicles: inspiring consumers in the age of Industry 4.0 technologies, Journal of Marketing Management, 41:13-14, 1341-1369, DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2025.2541840.0267-257X (print)1472-1376 (online)10.1080/0267257X.2025.2541840http://hdl.handle.net/2263/105334Advances in AI and Industry 4.0 technologies are reshaping society, yet consumer resistance to innovations like autonomous vehicles (AVs) remains significant. Despite the proven benefits of fully autonomous vehicles, adoption lags. This study addresses gaps in AV adoption research by developing a sequential theoretical framework to explore the psychological relationships between AV stressors, benefits, trust, adoption difficulty, and consumer resistance. Grounded in trust, JTBD theory, and inspiration theories, the model was tested on 671 consumers in Australia and the USA, revealing that trust and inspiration play a crucial role in reducing resistance. Notably, inspired consumers exhibit lower resistance, suggesting a focus on AV benefits to foster inspiration and facilitate adoption. The study’s findings have practical implications for promoting AV adoption, highlighting the pivotal role of trust and inspiration in reducing consumer resistance. Marketers and policymakers can benefit from this research by designing strategies that inspire consumers and ease adoption barriers.en© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Autonomous vehicles (AVs) technologiesResistance to AVInspirationTrustAdoption difficultyArticle