Understanding the privacy protection disengagement behaviour of contactless digital service users: the roles of privacy fatigue and privacy literacy

ABSTRACT

Contactless digital service (CDS) users show different degrees of privacy protection disengagement when facing privacy invasion. This study tries to explore the factors that motivate CDS users to engage in privacy protection disengagement when facing privacy invasion based on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework and regulatory focus theory. Data collected from 328 Chinese contactless digital menu service (CDMS) users are analysed via partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results show that privacy invasion indirectly affects privacy protection disengagement through partial mediation of privacy fatigue and privacy literacy. Moreover, the relationships between privacy fatigue/privacy literacy and privacy protection disengagement are moderated by a prevention focus. The results of this study provide a reference for CDS providers and policy-makers on how to reduce privacy invasion in CDSs and promote the healthy development of CDSs.

KEYWORDS:

• Contactless digital service
• privacy fatigue
• privacy literacy
• regulatory focus
• privacy invasion
• privacy protection disengagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study is funded by Humanities and Social Science Fund of Ministry of Education of China [grant number 20YJC630003], Science and Technology Plan of Youth Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province in China [grant number 2019RWG031], China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant number 2021M691688].