JDIEG
JOURNAL
Journal of Digital Intelligence and Economic Growth
Print ISSN: 3058-3535
Online ISSN: 3058-6518

The Mechanism of How the Attractiveness of Low-Altitude Technology Presentation Influences Public Usage Intention: Based on An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior
Yi Feng , Xinyu Feng
Abstract: With the rapid development of technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles, low-altitude logistics, and urban air mobility, the low-altitude economy is increasingly emerging as a critical driver of industrial upgrading and urban governance transformation. However, as a representative emerging socio-technical system, the development of low-altitude technologies depends not only on technological maturity and institutional design but also heavily on public cognition, attitudes, and usage intention. Existing studies have predominantly focused on the technological feasibility and industrial models of the low-altitude economy, while paying relatively limited attention to the behavioral decision-making mechanisms of the public in low-altitude economic contexts. Against this backdrop, this study introduces the extended Theory of Planned Behavior to develop an analytical framework for public usage intention toward low-altitude technologies, systematically examining the formation pathways of usage intention from the interactive perspective of technology presentation attractiveness and psychological mechanisms. Specifically, the attractiveness of low-altitude technology presentation is conceptualized into four dimensions-visual attractiveness, appearance attractiveness, social attractiveness, and task attractiveness-and subjective norms, attitude, perceived behavioral control, and environmental indebtedness are incorporated as mediating variables, data are collected through a questionnaire survey and the hypotheses are empirically tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicate that different types of technology presentation attractiveness exert significantly differentiated effects on public usage intention Specifically, visual atrac tivenessand appearance attractiveness significantly influence public attitudes, perceptions of behavioral control, and environmental responsibility cognition through multiple psychological pathways. Social attractiveness primarily operates through value identification and moral psychology, whereas the influence pathways of task attractiveness exhibit pronounced selectiviy, mainly affecting subjective noms and environmental indebtedness. At the psychological mechanism level, attitude, perceived behavioral control, and environmental indebtedness all exert significant positive effects on public usage intention toward low-alliudetechnologies, with environmental indebtedness showing the strongest effect, while the direct effect of subjective norms does not reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Theoretically, this study extends the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior in the field of low-altiude economy research by revealing the critical roles of technology presentation and moral psychological mechanisms in emerging technology adoption, practically, it provides valuable implications for communication strategies, risk communication, and sustainable governance of low-altitude technologies.
Keywords: low-altitude economy; low-altitude technology usage intention; extended Theory of Planned Behaviorattractiveness of low-altitude technology presentation; environmental indebtedness.
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Citations: Feng, Y., & Feng, X.Y. (2025).The Mechanism of How the Attractiveness of Low-Altitude Technology Presentation Influences Public Usage Intention: Based on An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior. Journal of Digital Intelligence and Economic Growth, 2(4): 117-141. https://doi.org/10.63768/jdieg.v2i4.007