Chatbots or Humans? Effects of Agent Identity and Information Sensitivity on Users’ Privacy Management and Behavioral Intentions: A Comparative Experimental Study between China and the United States

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical framework.

Table 1. Sample distribution.

Information sensitivity	Agent identity	China	US
Low	Chatbot	56	59
	Human	51	61
High	Chatbot	51	52
	Human	53	52

Table 2. Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) of the variables.

	China				US
	Low sensitivity		High sensitivity		Low sensitivity		High sensitivity
	Chatbot	Human	Chatbot	Human	Chatbot	Human	Chatbot	Human
Privacy concerns	3.54 (1.77)	3.37 (1.80)	4.56 (1.63)	3.37 (1.63)	2.70 (1.57)	2.91 (1.65)	3.71 (1.68)	2.93 (1.96)
Boundary linkage	4.64 (1.35)	5.33 (1.28)	5.28 (1.48)	4.71 (1.50)	3.36 (1.51)	3.39 (1.70)	4.04 (1.46)	3.28 (1.68)
Intention to disclose	4.78 (1.42)	5.43 (1.05)	5.37 (1.20)	4.92 (1.49)	4.74 (1.34)	4.85 (1.31)	4.85 (1.31)	4.77 (1.59)
Intention to use	5.72 (1.14)	5.93 (0.76)	5.61 (1.17)	5.67 (0.83)	4.76 (1.46)	4.57 (1.62)	4.94 (1.36)	4.97 (1.55)

Table 3. One-way ANOVA results in terms of privacy concerns and boundary linkage.

	Predictor	China				US
Dependent variable	agent identity	M	SD	F	p-Value	M	SD	F	p-Value
Privacy Concerns	Chatbot	4.03	1.77	7.579	0.006	3.17	1.69	1.206	0.273
	Human	3.37	1.71			2.92	1.79
Boundary Linkage	Chatbot	4.94	1.45	0.122	0.727	3.68	1.52	2.506	0.115
	Human	5.01	1.42			3.34	1.68

Table 4. Direct and indirect path analysis.

Paths	China				US
	Effect	S.E.	95%CIL	95%CIU	Effect	S.E.	95%CIL	95%CIU
Agent identity→Privacy concerns	−0.31	0.35	−1.00	0.39	0.18	0.31	−0.44	0.79
Conditional effects
Low sensitivity	−0.31	0.35	−1.00	0.39	0.18	0.31	−0.44	0.79
High sensitivity	−1.26	0.35	−1.95	−0.57	−0.78	0.33	−1.44	−0.12
Agent identity→Privacy concerns →Intention to disclose
Conditional indirect effects
Low sensitivity	0.01	0.02	−0.02	0.07	−0.04	0.07	−0.19	0.10
High sensitivity	0.04	0.05	−0.05	0.14	0.20	0.10	0.01	0.40
Agent identity→Privacy concerns→Intention to use
Conditional indirect effects
Low sensitivity	0.04	0.05	−0.06	0.15	−0.03	0.06	−0.15	0.07
High sensitivity	0.18	0.06	0.07	0.31	0.14	0.09	0.01	0.34
Agent identity→Boundary linkage	0.47	0.28	−0.09	1.03	0.17	0.28	−0.39	0.72
Conditional effects
Low sensitivity	0.47	0.28	−0.09	1.03	0.17	0.28	−0.39	0.72
High sensitivity	−0.81	0.28	−1.36	−0.25	−0.66	0.30	−1.26	−0.07
Agent identity→Boundary linkage→Intention to disclose
Conditional indirect effects
Low sensitivity	0.32	0.19	−0.05	0.72	0.09	0.15	−0.20	0.39
High sensitivity	−0.55	0.23	−1.01	−0.12	−0.34	0.16	−0.68	−0.04
Agent identity→Boundary linkage→Intention to use
Conditional indirect effects
Low sensitivity	0.16	0.10	−0.02	0.38	0.07	0.12	−0.15	0.31
High sensitivity	−0.28	0.11	−0.48	−0.06	−0.26	0.13	−0.53	−0.03
Agent identity→Intention to disclose	−0.02	0.13	−0.28	0.25	0.10	0.15	−0.19	0.39
Agent identity→Intention to use	0.02	0.13	−0.23	0.27	0.04	0.18	−0.32	0.39
Privacy concerns→Intention to disclose	−0.03	0.03	−0.10	0.04	−0.25	0.04	−0.34	−0.17
Privacy concerns→Intention to use	−0.14	0.03	−0.21	−0.08	−0.19	0.05	−0.29	−0.08
Boundary linkage→Intention to disclose	0.68	0.04	0.60	0.77	0.51	0.05	0.42	0.61
Boundary linkage→Intention to use	0.34	0.04	0.26	0.42	0.40	0.06	0.28	0.51

Table

Step
The US version			China version
	Human condition	Chatbot condition	Human condition	Chatbot condition
1	A staff will be with you shortly.	A chatbot will be with you shortly.	人工客服将很快与您对话。	聊天机器人将很快与您对话。
2	Hi! I’m Sam, a staff from HealthPro. In the following I will ask you some questions that need to be answered to make the best recommendation for a health insurance for you. If you agree with this, please type “ok”.	Hi! I’m Sam, a chatbot from HealthPro. In the following I will ask you some questions that need to be answered to make the best recommendation for a health insurance for you. If you agree with this, please type “ok”.	您好！我是客服 Sam, 来自HealthPro。为了向您提供最佳的健康保险建议, 接下来我将问您一些问题。如果您同意, 请输入“好的”。	您好！我是聊天机器人Sam, 来自HealthPro。为了向您提供最佳的健康保险建议, 接下来我将问您一些问题。如果您同意, 请输入“好的”。
Personal information
3	How old are you?		您的年龄是多少？
4	Okay. What is your gender?		好的, 您的性别是？
5	Got it. Are you married?		了解了。请问您是否已婚？
6	I see. We would like to get an understanding of whether you belong to a special risk group. Do you take part in extreme sports such as racing, bungee jumping, or skiing?		好的。我们想了解一下您是否属于特殊风险群体。您参加极限运动吗？比如赛跑、蹦极、滑雪?
7	Okay. Are you engaged in or will be engaged in a full-time or part-time hazardous occupation, such as the military, motor racing, professional sports, jobs that expose you to chemicals, or other high-risk occupations?		好的。您是否从事或即将从事全职或兼职的危险职业？如军事、赛车、职业运动、接触化学品的工作或其他高风险职业。
8	Got it. Do you smoke?		好的。您吸烟吗？
Privacy information
	Low-sensitivity condition	High-sensitivity condition	Low-sensitivity condition	High-sensitivity condition
9	N.A.	I see. Did you have multiple sexual partners in the last six months?	缺失	好的, 您在过去6个月内是否有多个性伴侣？
10		Okay. What is your monthly budget for health insurance?		好的, 您每月的医疗保险预算是多少？
Ending
11	Thanks for your time. We think that the insurance product, the “Silver Health Plan,” might be ideal for you and fits your needs and preferences best. It is recommended that you have a look at the plan later.		谢谢您的宝贵时间。我们认为“银色健康计划”保险产品可能最适合您, 最符合您的需求和偏好。建议稍后看一看计划。
12	This is the end of the consultation. The verification code is xxxxxxxxxx. Please copy or write down this verification code (you will need it later) and continue to complete the following survey.		咨询到此结束。验证码为xxxxxxxxxx。请复制或写下此验证码 (您稍后将需要它), 并继续完成接下来的问卷。