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The effects of privacy concerns and personal innovativeness on potential and experienced customers’ adoption of location-based services

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Abstract

Location-Based Services (LBS) use positioning technology to provide individual users the capability of being constantly reachable and accessing network services while ‘on the move’. However, privacy concerns associated with the use of LBS may ultimately prevent consumers from gaining the convenience of ‘anytime anywhere’ personalized services. We examine the adoption of this emerging technology through a privacy lens. Drawing on the privacy literature and theories of technology adoption, we use a survey approach to develop and test a conceptual model to explore the effects of privacy concerns and personal innovativeness on customers’ adoption of LBS. In addition, as a number of IS researchers have shown that customers differ in their decision making for continued adoption as compared to initial decision making, we test the research model separately for potential and experienced customers. The results indicate that privacy concerns significantly influence continued adoption as compared to initial adoption. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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Notes

  1. More details: http://www.ideas.singtel.com/ideas/ideasvp.jsp?t=s&p=2&i=43&v=43.

  2. Cell-ID, or Cell of Origin (COO), works by identifying the cell of the network in which the handset is operating (Barnes 2003). Such technique is the main technology that is widely deployed in mobile communication networks today. It requires no modification to handsets or networks since it uses the mobile network base station as the location of the caller (Barnes 2003).

  3. *SEND-A-TAXI was selected based on the subjects’ interest indications in the pilot study (n = 51): the participants were asked to choose three of their interested ‘what’s around me?’ services. *SEND-A-TAXI service was ranked as the top one.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers, the special issue editor for their constructive and encouraging comments. The authors like to thank Prof. Hock Hai Teo at the National University of Singapore for his valuable help on an earlier version of this paper. This material is partially based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No NSF-CNS 0716646. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, 307C IST Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Heng Xu

  2. Dept. of Business Administration, Shri Shankaracharya College of Engineering and Technology, Bhilai, C.G., 490020, India

    Sumeet Gupta

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  1. Heng Xu
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  2. Sumeet Gupta
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Correspondence to Heng Xu.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Frédéric Thiesse

Appendix A: Survey instrument

Appendix A: Survey instrument

Construct

Item

Question wording

Source

Intention to Use LBS

INT1

I intend to use the LBS in the next 6 months

Venkatesh et al. (2003)

INT2

I predict I would use the LBS in the next 6 months

INT3

I plan to use the LBS in the next 6 months

Performance Expectancy

PEPT1

LBS reduce my searching time to find the information/services that I need

Chae and Kim (2001); Venkatesh et al. (2003)

PEPT2

LBS reduce my searching efforts to find the information/servicesI needed

PEPT3

With the LBS, I can quickly access the information/services that I need

PEPT4

With the LBS, I can easily access the information/services that I need

Effort Expectancy

EEPT1

My interaction with the LBS would be clear and understandable

Venkatesh et al. (2003)

EEPT2

I would find the LBS easy to use

EEPT3

Learning to use LBS is easy for me

Personal Innovativeness

INNV1

If I heard about a new information technology, I would look for ways to experiment with it

Agarwal and Prasad (1998)

INNV2

Among my peers, I am usually the first to try out new information technologies

INNV3

I like to experiment with new information technologies

Privacy Concerns—Collection

CLCT1

It bothers me to disclose my personal information to service providers

Smith et al. (1996)

CLCT2

I am concerned that other people may monitor my current location continuously

CLCT3

Service providers are collecting too much information about me

Privacy Concerns—Unauthorized Access

ACES1

Service providers may keep my private information (including my location) in a non-secure manner.

Smith et al. (1996)

ACES2

Service providers may not take measures to prevent unauthorized access to my personal information.

ACES3

Service providers may divulge my personal information to unauthorized parties without my consent

Privacy Concerns—Errors

ERR1

Service providers may keep my personal information (including my location) in a non-accurate manner in their database

Smith et al. (1996)

ERR2

Service providers may provide me with inaccurate or wrong information/services due to the error in tracking my location.

ERR3

Service providers may not devote time and effort to verifying the accuracy of the personal information in their databases

Privacy Concerns—Secondary Use

USE1

Service providers may share my personal information (including my location) with other companies without notifying me or getting my authorization

Smith et al. (1996)

USE2

Service providers may use my personal information for other purposes, e.g., analyzing my daily activities to derive information about me

USE3

Service providers may sell my personal information to other companies without notifying me or getting my authorization

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Xu, H., Gupta, S. The effects of privacy concerns and personal innovativeness on potential and experienced customers’ adoption of location-based services. Electron Markets 19, 137–149 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-009-0012-4

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