Title: Impact of privacy concern on using mobile social networking apps: an empirical study

Authors: Xin Tan; Yongbeom Kim; Li Qin

Addresses: Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ 07666, USA ' Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ 07666, USA ' Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ 07666, USA

Abstract: In this study, we investigated the level of privacy concern among users of mobile social networking (MSN) apps, and the effect of users' privacy concern on their acceptance of MSN apps. Based on the social exchange theory as well as the uses and gratification theory, we developed a research model to hypothesise the relationships among privacy-related constructs. We tested the research model using the data collected from a survey study. Our data analysis indicates that survey respondents have privacy concern when using MSN apps. However, the direct effect of privacy concern on user's behavioural intention is not statistically significant, while enjoyment has a significant positive influence on the behavioural intention. The antecedents of enjoyment and privacy concern are found to significantly affect their respective dependent variable. The findings help researchers and practitioners better understand the impact of privacy concern on users' acceptance of MSN apps.

Keywords: mobile apps; privacy concern; social exchange; social networking; uses and gratification.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2018.091383

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2018 Vol.16 No.3, pp.286 - 306

Received: 21 Jan 2016
Accepted: 15 Nov 2016
Published online: 30 Apr 2018 *

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