Consumer Privacy Protection With the Growth of AI-Empowered Online Shopping Based on the Evolutionary Game Model

Abstract

Social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has driven some consumers to online shopping, and concerns about pandemic risks and personal hygiene have increased the demand for e-commerce. Providing personalized recommendations seems quite profitable for e-commerce platforms, and consumers also benefit from personalized content with the advancement of AI technologies. However, this possible win-win situation is marred by the increase in consumers' privacy concerns. Technical solutions have been widely studied to protect consumer privacy, while few analyses have been conducted from the perspective of psychological and behavioral implications. In this paper, an evolutionary game model of privacy protection between e-commerce platforms and consumers is established to determine the mechanisms by which various factors exert influence, and evolutionary stable strategies are obtained from equilibrium points. Then, the strategy selections are simulated with MATLAB 2020 software. Based on the results, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) the application of AI technologies in e-commerce will fundamentally benefit consumers, which makes them actively share personal information with e-commerce platforms with incentives for generous rewards; (2) it is profitable for e-commerce platforms to conduct data mining by improving the ability to use AI technologies and making efforts to reduce technical costs; and (3) regulators should improve the level of supervision instead of imposing a large penalty to enhance consumer trust, which could effectively increase the profits of e-commerce platforms and protect consumers' privacy.

Consumer Motivations for Adopting Omnichannel Retailing: A Safety-Driven Perspective in the Context of COVID-19

“…In this regard, being “ omni ” has obtained much attention as a new business model aimed at integrating all available channels within a firm and eliminating the barriers among these channels ( 47 ). Specifically, omnichannel is defined as “ a unified approach that manages channels as intermingled touch points to allow consumers to have a seamless experience within an ecosystem ” ( 4 , 10 , 11 , 28 , 29 , 46 ). In the omnichannel context, consumers are not limited by the channels' characteristics and can migrate across them without any information loss or reiteration.…”

“…Consistent with much PMT-related literature that excluded response costs from the research framework [e.g., see ( 33 , 72 )], responses costs were excluded in our conceptual framework. This approach was taken since numerous studies have suggested that omnichannel retailing is a novel technology that forms a seamless retail world for consumers, and the adoption of such shopping methods does not require additional efforts and does not cause advantage losses to other shopping methods ( 11 , 29 , 73 ).…”

“…Moreover, since the massive shock of the ongoing pandemic has changed the business environment and disrupted the retail industry ( 22 – 26 ), we argue that it is necessary to consider the role of COVID-19 in our research model. Indeed, literature on changes in consumer behavior is surging ( 10 , 11 , 27 – 29 ). Some scholars have reported that COVID-19 has led consumers to panic buy, and they investigated the drivers of this phenomenon ( 27 , 30 ).…”

“…For instance, Wang et al ( 28 ) predicted that COVID-19 would result in the emergence of a massive community of “lonely” consumers who were deeply enveloped in social isolation. Wang et al ( 29 ) analyzed consumer privacy protection in the face of rapidly emerging online shopping. However, to date, knowledge on channel switching behavior under COVID-19 is rather underdeveloped.…”

Social Distancing, Health Concerns, and Digitally Empowered Consumption Behavior Under COVID-19: A Study on Livestream Shopping Technology

“…Globally, COVID-19 remains one of the most serious threats to public health despite the recent development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines (6)(7)(8). From May 24 to May 30, 2021, the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to decrease, with over 3.5 million new cases and 78,000 new deaths reported globally.…”