The Effect of Libertarian Beliefs on Consumer Attitudes Toward Driving Controls

The effect of consumer moral beliefs such as libertarianism on attitudes toward regulation is an important and relevant question, heightened by the fact that attitudes toward the right of authorities to regulate and enforce public health behavior appear to be in flux. We apply the theory of reasoned action to hypothesize that personal outcome expectations influence attitudes toward reckless driving controls. Our unique theoretical contribution is to add not normative influence but norms as a complementary psychological antecedent to attitude. Two surveys (one with experimental manipulation) are undertaken to test the integrity of our measures and our hypotheses. Three of the four dimensions of the “libertarianism” norm that we empirically identified (and confirmed in replication) explained 20–25% of overall attitudes to forty reckless driving control (RDC) concepts. This was a far greater influence than the rationally based antecedent, self-reported reckless driving behavior. Future research that differentiates between the vehicle taking control and authorities taking control through “big brother” tracking of careless behavior is discussed.