The study analyzed 3,081 conversations from Jan. 1 to Aug. 15. The conversations were evenly distributed before and after news of the fatal crash of a Tesla using Autopilot became public on July 30.
MavenMagnet analyzes data from all digital sources — including social networks, communities, forums, chat rooms and product reviews — to provide insights about U.S. attitudes toward emerging and rapidly evolving topics such as autonomous vehicles. Its work for corporate clients has included analysis of more than 40 vehicle nameplates.
The net vibe for autonomous cars dropped 25 points from -4% to -29% after the news broke of the fatal Tesla Model S crash. (Net vibe is defined by percentage of positive consumers minus percentage of negative consumers)
Safety is the primary factor driving consideration - positive or negative - for autonomous cars. (Note: Percentage of online conversations that concerned a topic.)
Perhaps predictably, online conversations about autonomous vehicles turned markedly negative this summer after a fatal crash involving the driver of a Tesla Model S operated in Autopilot mode.
