Drone Delivery as Everyday Public Automation in China: How Co-existence, Mediation, Governance, and Price Boundaries Shape Adoption

Drone-based food delivery is increasingly encountered as publicly visible automation embedded in everyday environments. This study examines how such a service becomes intention-worthy when evaluation extends beyond utility towards co-existence, intelligibility, and legitimacy in shared space. Building on social cognitive theory and the goal-directed behaviour model, we propose a modularisation–gateway account in which heterogeneous public-facing cues are consolidated primarily through attitude as an integrative gateway to behavioural intention. Four theory-driven modules specify structured entry points into evaluation: aesthetics and experience (sensory co-existence), mediation (interface assurances and trajectory visualisation), politics and governance (airspace governance, privacy, labour fairness), and price valuation (fairness and acceptability boundaries). Survey data collected in China (N = 314) were analysed using ordinal CFA/SEM with WLSMV and multi-group comparisons by residence type. The findings support the gateway logic and indicate that visualisation operates dually as an informational and evaluative cue, while price functions as an exchange-legitimacy boundary rather than a performance attribute. Urban–rural comparisons suggest broadly stable mechanisms, with only context-sensitive indications for valuation boundaries.