Mobile application security: Role of perceived privacy as the predictor of security perceptions

Despite mobile applications being at the frontier of mobile computation technologies, security issues pose a threat to their adoption and diffusion. Recent studies suggest that security violations could be mitigated through improved security behaviors and attitudes, not just through better technologies. Existing literature on behavioral security suggests that one of the main predictors of users’ perceptions of security is their perceived privacy concerns. Using communication privacy management theory (CPM), this study examines the effects of privacy-related perceptions, such as privacy risk and the effectiveness of privacy policies, on the security perceptions of mobile app users. To empirically test the proposed theoretical model, two survey studies were conducted using mobile apps requesting less sensitive information (n = 487) and more sensitive information (n = 559). The findings show that the perceived privacy risk negatively influences the perceived security of the mobile apps; the perceived effectiveness of a privacy policy positively influences user perceptions of mobile app security; and perceived privacy awareness moderates the effect of perceived privacy risk on the perceived security of mobile apps. The results also suggest that users have different privacy-security perceptions based on the information sensitivity of the mobile apps. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Understanding mobile health service use: An investigation of routine and emergency use intentions

This study theorizes two information systems (IS) use behaviors associated with individuals’ behavioral intention of mobile health (mHealth) services. Emergency use refers to individuals’ use of IS in emergency situations. Routine use refers to individuals’ use of IS on a basis. We adopt motivation theory as our overarching theoretical lens through which we investigate the influence of individuals’ different motivation incentives on their emergency and routine use intentions of mHealth services. We also investigate the influences of technological and psychological antecedents on extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Based on data collected from 241 participants, we find that perceived usefulness enhances people’s emergency and routine use intentions of mHealth services and that perceived enjoyment positively influences routine use intention. In addition, we find that perceived source credibility, perceived service availability, and perceived diagnosticity influence perceived usefulness (extrinsic motivation), whereas perceived autonomy, perceived competence, perceived relatedness, and curiosity affect perceived enjoyment (intrinsic motivation). This research offers insights for IS literature regarding mHealth emergency and routine use behaviors.     

Patients’ emotional bonding with MHealth apps: An attachment perspective on patients’ use of MHealth applications

While mobile health applications (mHealth apps) have attracted considerable practical and research attention in recent years, very few information systems (IS) studies have ever investigated patients’ use of mHealth apps. We draw insights from attachment theory, which states that when individuals experience fatigue or stress, they tend to develop affectionate bonds with objects that attend to their needs. Our study provides an evolutionary view on how patients’ attaining satisfaction of their basic needs through using mHealth apps leads to their emotional bonding with the mHealth apps and consequently contributes to their overall well-being. We surveyed 113 patients who used an mHealth app for hospitalization and discharge advice and education. We found that (a) patients’ emotional bonding with the apps mediated the impacts of autonomy and relatedness needs satisfaction on their well-being in terms of enhanced IT-enabled self-esteem and reduced post-surgery physical symptoms; and (b) autonomy need satisfaction positively and negatively moderated the impacts of competence and relatedness needs satisfaction, respectively, on patients’ emotional bonding with mHealth apps. Our findings not only contribute to the technology use literature and extend the interpretation of attachment theory in the IS field, but also yield practical insights for managers and developers who work in the mHealth industry.     

How perceived value drives the use of mobile financial services apps

Mobile information services have revolutionized business models and service delivery methods by facilitating consumer access to information and order placement via mobile apps. In developed markets, mobile banking (m-banking) and mobile payment (m-payment) applications have replaced text-based mobile services. However, extant research has not addressed these mobile financial services apps (MFSAs) adequately from the perspective of consumer behavior. Thus, the present study developed and tested a series of hypotheses related to the antecedents of perceived value of MFSA use; it also examined how such use affects the development of customers’ overall relationships with banks. Our hypotheses were tested using two samples (N = 992; N = 524) comprising different types of MFSA end-users in one of the leading countries in digital banking, Finland. The results supported most of the hypotheses and revealed that self-congruence and new product novelty are the principal drivers of perceived MFSA value. In addition, the findings show that the perceived value of MFSAs yields strong positive effects on customers’ overall satisfaction and commitment to their bank. The present study’s key managerial implication is that banks’ investments in developing MFSAs result in improved relationships with customers and increased business.     

Intention to disclose personal information via mobile applications: A privacy calculus perspective

This study aimed to investigate the issue of consumer intention to disclose personal information via mobile applications (apps). Drawing on the literature of privacy calculus theory, this research examined the factors that influence the trade-off decision of receiving perceived benefits and being penalized with perceived risks through the calculus lens. In particular, two paths of the direct effects on perceived benefits and risks that induce the ultimate intention to disclose personal information via mobile apps were proposed and empirically tested. The analysis showed that self-presentation and personalized services positively influence consumers’ perceived benefits, which in turn positively affects the intention to disclose personal information. Perceived severity and perceived control serve as the direct antecedents of perceived risks that negatively affect the intention of consumers to disclose personal information. Compared with the perceived risks, the perceived benefits more strongly influence the intention to disclose personal information. This study extends the literature on privacy concerns to consumer intention to disclose personal information by theoretically developing and empirically testing four hypotheses in a research model. Results were validated in the mobile context, and implications and discussions were presented.     

移动互联网用户采纳研究——基于感知利益、成本和风险视角

基于感知利益、成本和风险视角,对移动互联网用户采纳行为进行研究,构建用户采纳的结构方程模型,以揭示影响用户采纳移动互联网的关键因素及其作用机理。利用SPSS软件对模型量表进行探索性因子分析,使用SmartPLS软件对模型量表进行验证性因子分析和对结构方程模型的假设进行检验。结果显示用户对移动互联网的感知有用性、感知乐趣、无所不在性、感知成本对感知价值影响显著,感知价值、社会影响和感知有用性对用户采纳意向有直接影响,用户创新意识对感知价值与用户采纳意向的关系有显著负向调节作用。最后,对研究结果进行了讨论,提出促进我国移动互联网发展的建议。     

Understanding mobile marketing adoption intention by South African SMEs: A multi-perspective framework

This paper examines the key drivers of mobile marketing adoption intention by South African SMEs using a multi-perspective framework that combines elements in the technological, organisational and environmental contexts of the enterprises. Data was collected from a random sample of 205 SMEs from Gauteng, South Africa. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The results identified perceived relative advantage, perceived cost, top management support, employees’ IT capability, and customer pressure as important drivers of mobile marketing adoption intention. Of these factors, top management support emerged as the strongest driver of adoption intention. The implications of these findings for mobile marketers and others interested in accelerating the adoption of mobile marketing among SMEs are highlighted.     

A bidirectional perspective of trust and risk in determining factors that influence mobile app installation

The purpose of this research is to consider how trust in and perceived risk of a mobile marketplace impact a consumer before installing a mobile application. In particular, trust is considered from the perspective of institutionalized trust, where consumers faced with ignorance rely on institutionalized mechanisms for personal safety. A bidirectional research model is presented based on trust and perceived risk as antecedents to the intent to install a mobile application. Data is collected from a survey of 214 participants and is analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results suggest that institutional loyalty plays a significant role in consumers’ intent to install mobile apps. Trust and its antecedent, security, had strong significant positive relationships with the intention to install mobile apps, while risk and its antecedent, privacy, had weak and insignificant relationships. The bidirectional model’s relationship between trust and risk was also insignificant in both directions, further suggesting that perception of risk is an insignificant factor in the intent to install mobile apps.     

Does digital footprint act as a digital asset? – Enhancing brand experience through remarketing

The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilization of the marketing adaptability of branded mobile applications (apps) in order to understand the relationship between consumers and their attachment to branded apps. We develop a model grounded in the purchaser-brand relationship theory of remarketing in order to develop the consumer-brand relationship through mediator brand experience (BE) and moderator digital footprint. A survey was conducted with 421 participants from different regions in India. AMOS 21.0 and SPSS plugin called “Process Analysis System” proposed by Hayes (2013) were used to analyze the hypotheses. The results corroborate the proposed research model. It approves brand association with brand connection for those brands that are easily identifiable. The result also confirms that the comprehensive consumption values are the major influencing factors in the adoption of branded apps. The study enhances the comprehension of the impact of brand connotation on consumer behavior in terms of the usage of various branded apps and the practical and non-useful esteem attached to them.     

Determinants of mHealth success: An empirical investigation of the user perspective

Mobile health (mHealth) applications have become an important tool to support public health, especially in times of increased health awareness in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is still uncertainty about what factors determine successful mHealth services from the users’ perspective. Based on the results of a systematic literature review, a qualitative content analysis of available apps and semi-structured user and expert interviews, we derive a structural model with antecedents on user attitudes towards mHealth and user satisfaction with the mHealth application. These variables determine users’ intention to continue using the application and their intention to recommend it to others. For verification, we tested the model with a sample of 249 German mHealth users from the “MyFitnessPal” community using structural equation modelling and found that all derived path relations have significant coefficients.     

Mobile users’ information privacy concerns and the role of app permission requests

Recent privacy-related incidents of mobile services have shown that app stores and providers face the challenge of mobile users’ information privacy concerns, which can prevent users from installing mobile apps or induce them to uninstall an app. In this paper, we investigate the role of app permission requests and compare the impact on privacy concerns with other antecedents of information privacy concerns, i.e., prior privacy experience, computer anxiety, and perceived control. To test these effects empirically, we conducted an online survey with 775 participants. Results of our structural equation modeling show that prior privacy experience, computer anxiety, and perceived control have significant effects on privacy concerns. However, concerns for app permission requests have approximately twice as much predictive value than the other factors put together to explain mobile users’ overall information privacy concerns. We expect that our findings can provide a theoretical contribution for future mobile privacy research as well as practical implications for app stores and providers.     

The path to mobile shopping compatibility

The mobile technology involves an unexplored world of doing business and consumer behavioral change that constitutes a revolution in the application of technologies to marketing. A key factor in the adoption of mobile commerce is the compatibility that the consumer perceives with his/her life. Given that the research on compatibility with mobile purchases made so far treats it as an antecedent of adoption, this pioneer research studies the influencing role of two more personal factors (self-efficacy and innovativeness) and two factors more related to the shopping (involvement and perceived entertainment). The model was tested using PLS with information from 583 Mexican mobile buyers. Our results show a positive effect of innovativeness, involvement and perceived entertainment on compatibility. On the contrary, self-efficacy does not seem to influence the perception of compatibility of mobile shopping with consumer life. This work has important implications for the practice of professionals dedicated to mobile commerce.     

Third-party mobile app developers’ continued participation in platform-centric ecosystems: An empirical investigation of two different mechanisms

Platform-centric ecosystems run by Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. enable the companies to magnify the values of their products and services on an unprecedented scale, by harnessing third-party add-on software such as mobile apps. Despite the importance, however, there is a dearth of empirical research that investigates how third-party developers’ continued participation is actually determined. This paper examined two different mechanisms increasing dedication to a platform and constraining exit from the platform, respectively. Specific factors in each mechanism and their casual relationships were tested and discussed in the context of Apple’s mobile platform.     

The effect of app store strategy on app rating: The moderating role of hedonic and utilitarian mobile apps

Concerns about the performance of mobile apps have spurred a stream of research on factors contributing to the success of mobile apps in the major app stores. However, identified success factors have not been synthesized into a unified framework. Similarly, reported findings typically address main effects. The present study introduces the concept of app store strategy to synthesize the mobile app success factors that developers implement in the major app stores. The study synthesizes four such factors consisting of app size, app versions (major and minor), revenue model and mobile app names. Further, drawing on IS literature, the study distinguishes between hedonic and utilitarian mobile apps. Using a dataset of mobile apps from Play Store (N = 8325), the study investigates to what extent app store strategy interacts with the hedonic and utilitarian value of mobile apps in driving app rating. The study employed a combination of traditional regression and machine learning approaches to test proposed hypotheses. The findings make a two-fold contribution to the literature first by introducing the concept of app store strategy to synthesize mobile app success factors and second by examining hedonic and utilitarian mobile apps as a boundary condition in the relationship between app store strategy and app rating.     

Acceptance and resistance of telehealth: The perspective of dual-factor concepts in technology adoption

Telehealth can be used to develop innovative healthcare services for promoting medical quality and efficiency. Despite previous research on users’ adoption intention of telehealth, users’ acceptance and resistance have rarely been considered at the same time. This study used a research model based on the dual-factor concepts of “enablers” and “inhibitors” to explain users’ intentions to utilize telehealth. We extended the Technology Acceptance Model and Status Quo Bias with the technology anxiety concept to explain why patients accept or reject the use of telehealth from the perceived enablers and inhibitors of intentions. The experimental results demonstrated users’ ambiguous and indecisive intentions of adopting telehealth. It was also found that availability and perceived usefulness are the main factors that encourage individuals to adopt telehealth services. Technology anxiety and transition costs are the key factors in discouraging people from using telehealth. Technology anxiety could be overcome through the perceived usefulness to promote the adoption of telehealth.     

Unfolding the popularity of video conferencing apps – A privacy calculus perspective

Video conferencing (VC) applications (apps) have surged in popularity as an alternative to face-to-face communications. Although VC apps offer myriad benefits, it has caught much media attention owing to concerns of privacy infringements. This study examines the key determinants of professionals’ attitude and intentions to use VC apps in the backdrop of this conflicting duality. A conceptual research model is proposed based on theoretical foundations of privacy calculus and extended with conceptualizations of mobile users’ information privacy concerns (MUIPC), trust, technicality, ubiquity, as well as theoretical underpinnings of social presence theory. Structural equation modeling is used to empirically test the model using data collected from 484 professionals. The study offers insights regarding the trade-offs that professionals are willing to make in the face of information privacy concerns associated with VC apps. Based on the findings, the study emphasizes the promotion of privacy protection at the organizational level, control mechanisms that motivate employees to actively engage in privacy protection behavior, and a multi-faceted approach for data transparency within the VC app platforms.     

移动社交APP用户转移行为的影响因素研究

[目的/意义] 移动社交APP发展迅速,但各类产品之间的功能较为相似,相互之间替代性较高,因此防止用户转移对于社交APP来说至关重要。基于PPM（推-拉-锚）模型,研究了社交APP用户的转移行为。[方法/过程] 对收集的322份有效问卷采用SEM进行分析。[结果/结论] 研究结果表明,系统质量不满意度、服务质量不满意度、社会认同和社会交互等因素正向影响用户的转移意向,转移成本负向影响转移意向。研究结果启示社交APP需要采取措施阻止用户转移,从而实现用户保持,获取竞争优势。     

移动服务用户采纳行为的整合模型——基于移动阅读的实证研究

基于信息系统、行为科学和心理学理论,从一般技术因素、特定技术因素、消费者心理因素和社会影响因素四个方面构建了一个整合的移动服务用户采纳行为的结构方程模型。在我国移动服务背景下,以移动阅读为研究对象,运用SPSS 13.0和PLS结构方程分析软件验证模型和假设。研究发现:影响用户采纳基于工作环境下的传统信息技术和基于日常生活环境下的移动信息技术的关键因素存在显著差异。感知愉悦性、心流体验、感知易用性和感知移动性是影响用户采纳移动阅读的主要因素,而感知有用性、感知货币价值和社会影响对用户采纳移动阅读的影响不显著。     

Factors influencing the adoption of mHealth services in a developing country: A patient-centric study

mHealth under the umbrella of eHealth has become an essential tool for providing quality, accessible and equal health care services at an affordable cost. Despite the potential benefits of mHealth, its adoption remains a big challenge in developing countries such as Bangladesh. This study aims to examine the factors affecting the adoption of mHealth services in Bangladesh by using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with perceived reliability and price value factors. It also examines the moderating effect of gender on the intention to use and on the actual usage behavior of users of mHealth services. A well-structured face-to-face survey was employed to collect the data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with a partial least squares method was used to analyze the data collected from 296 generation Y participants. The results confirmed that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and perceived reliability positively influence the behavioral intention to adopt mHealth services. However, effort expectancy and price value did not have a significance influence on the behavioral intention. Moreover, Gender has a significant moderating effect on mHealth services adoption in certain cases. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of this study are also discussed.     

电子服务质量对社会化阅读服务用户持续使用的影响研究——以移动新闻APP为例

[目的/意义]本研究以期望-确认理论（ECT）和技术接受模型（TAM）为理论基础，同时引入IT自我效能和电子服务质量因素，提出一个整合的模型用以解释和预测用户对社会化阅读服务的持续使用行为。[方法/过程]采用问卷方式共收到有效样本589份，使用结构方程模型（SEM）对理论模型中的变量关系进行假设检验。[结果/结论]结果发现：1）整合的模型能够分别解释用户满意度和持续使用意向52%和45%的方差变异量。2）感知有用性、感知易用性和满意度是用户持续使用意向的决定性因素。3） IT自我效能通过感知易用性对用户持续使用意向产生间接影响。4）此外，电子服务质量中的效率、信息质量和隐私安全等外生因素分别对用户的确认程度产生显著正向影响，进而影响用户满意度。