Disruptive products and technologies change both how we live and the ways in which we live in communities. Automated vehicles (AVs) have the potential to be both disruptive and transformative. However, a period of anticipatory ebullience ended in 2018 when two high profile crashes of automated vehicles occurred. The crashes shook the confidence of the public and of industry and called into question the merits of developing fully automated vehicles that drive on public roads without input from humans. Although academic research on AVs has continued unabated since 2018, with the exception of a few instances, researchers have not sought insight from the industry creating these vehicles regarding the future of the technology and of how the industry is engaged in resetting expectations. This study investigates industry strategies to influence perceptions of automated vehicles post 2018 and how current perceptions of AVs affect communities. This study is based on interpretations of information transference, information moderation, and technology acceptance. Understanding how the AV industry is influencing perceptions in a changing technological landscape contributes new perspectives on a disruptive and transformative technology and how industry-led information moderation becomes an important contributing factor to future acceptance.
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