Digital contact tracing (DCT) applications, as a type of location‐based application, have been employed in many countries to help mitigate the spread of the COVID‐19 virus. However, the emergence of DCTs has amplified concerns over privacy issues as consumers are confronted with the ethical dilemma that arises regarding serving public and private interests. In other words, to what extent are consumers willing to negotiate their privacy concerns to gain perceived social benefits? Drawing on Social Exchange Theory as the theoretical lens to examine interpersonal relations between the government and consumers, this study investigates the extent to which consumers' perceived social benefits (e.g., reciprocity, trust, and reputation) mediate the relationship between privacy concerns and the intention to use DCT applications. Based on 269 usable responses, the results revealed that government trust was insignificant in mediating the relationship between privacy concerns and intention to use the DCT application. Rather, the expected reciprocal benefits and reputation enhancement were found to have significant mediating effects. Perceived government regulation was also found to moderate the relationship between privacy concerns and government trust. The paper concludes with suggestions for practitioners and policymakers on the plausible strategies to encourage the adoption of DCT applications.
Purpose Over the past decade, gamification’s popularity has broadened into many industries and has become embedded in consumers’ lives. As privacy protection and how firms utilize users’ data has been at the forefront of consumers’ minds, practitioners and academics alike need to understand consumers’ perceptions of the ethics of gamification. This paper aims to explore and provide preliminary evidence on young consumers’ perceptions of gamification and the ethics involved in these strategies used by firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted two studies using a mixed-methods approach to gain a foundational understanding of young consumers’ perceptions of gamification. In Study 1, interviews provided initial insights and helped inform an exploratory survey administered in Study 2 to 161 young consumers attending a university in the southwest region of the USA. Findings The findings indicate that consumers have positive attitudes toward gamification tactics as long as the rewards are sufficient. Further, consumers do not find gamification as unethical as long as they have control over having the ability to opt-in. Originality/value Previous research has examined gamification from several contexts including health care, education and the workplace. However, there is little research that focuses on gamification from the consumers’ perspective, specifically the young consumer. As more firms are using gamification tactics such as on their mobile applications, it is critical to understand how young consumers perceive gamification and how that can impact the consumer-brand relationship. This research offers two studies as a first step in investigating young consumers’ perceptions of gamification tactics firms use and offers several future directions.
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