Exploring young adults’ unwillingness to adopt COVID-19 contact tracing apps
A mixed-method study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s121.2023.13Keywords:
Contact tracing apps, Covid-19, psychological reactance, helplessness, consumer behaviour, mixed-methodAbstract
Purpose of the paper: Drawing on psychological reactance theory, we investigate how and when young adults’ unwillingness to adopt COVID-19 contact tracing apps (CTAs) reflects their focus on government-imposed containment measures and the perceived difficulty in restoring freedom. We also develop empirically based clusters of young adults who differ in terms of their focus on containment measures, the difficulty in restoring freedom, and CTA adoption intentions.
Methodology: We use a mixed-method approach. Through an initial qualitative study featuring in-depth interviews, we explore young adults’ perceptions of government-imposed containment measures and their difficulty in restoring freedom to examine how and when these perceptions reflect reduced CTA adoption intentions. Next, through a quantitative study via survey, we conduct a k-means cluster analysis to identify different groups of young adults.
Findings: The perceived restrictive nature of government-imposed containment measures threatens young adults’ freedom and diminishes their CTA adoption intentions. Moreover, the difficulty in restoring freedom defines when psychological states of reactance (vs. helplessness) occur. Finally, four clusters of young adults emerge: engendered dissidents, apathetic, optimistic adopters, and lost needing guidance.
Research limits: To enhance the generalizability of our results, future research might include consumers of diverse generations to explore age-based differences or use representative samples of diverse country populations to account for cultural variations.
Practical implications: The findings contribute to understanding the failure of CTA adoption among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, they offer relevant knowledge to promote CTA adoption if future pandemics occur.
Originality of the paper: In addition to privacy concerns and usability issues as main barriers to CTA adoption, we offer a complementary perspective leveraging psychological reactance.
References
ABBASPUR-BEHBAHANI S., MONAGHESH E., HAJIZADEH A., FEHRESTI S. (2022), “Application of mobile health to support the elderly during the COVID-19 outbreak: a systematic review”, Health Policy Technology, vol. 11, n. 1, pp. 1-8.
AKINBI A., FORSHAW M., BLINKHORN V. (2021), “Contact tracing apps for the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic literature review of challenges and future directions for neo-liberal societies”, Health Information Science and Systems, vol. 9, n. 18, pp. 1-15.
BAGOZZI R.P., YI Y. (1988), “On the evaluation of structural equation models”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 16, n. 1, pp. 74-94.
BALL H., GOODBOY A.K. (2014), “An experimental investigation of the antecedents and consequences of psychological reactance in the college classroom”, Communication Education, vol. 63, n. 3, pp. 192-209.
BERGER A.A. (2017), Cultural perspectives on millennials, Springer Nature, San Francisco.
BREHM J.W. (1966), A theory of psychological reactance, Academic Press, New York.
BREHM S.S., BREHM J.W. (2013), Psychological reactance: A theory of freedom and control, Academic Press, New York.
BREHM J.W., SELF E.A. (1989), “The intensity of motivation”, Annual review of psychology, vol. 40, n. 1, pp. 109-131.
CHAN E.Y., SAQIB N.U. (2021), “Privacy concerns can explain unwillingness to download and use contact tracing apps when COVID-19 concerns are high”, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 119, pp. 1-12.
DAVIDOW M. (2003), “Organizational responses to customer complaints: what works and what doesn’t”, Journal of Service Research, vol. 5, n. 3, pp. 225-250.
DILLARD J.P., SHEN L. (2005), “On the nature of reactance and its role in persuasive health communication”, Communication Monographs, vol, 72, n. 2, pp. 144-168.
EIT DIGITAL (2021), “The European struggle with COVID-19 contact tracing app continues”, https://www.eitdigital.eu/newsroom/news/2021/the-european-struggle-with-covid-19-contact-tracing-app-continues/.
EUROTOPICS (2020), “Coronavirus and the divide between young and old”,www.eurotopics.net/en/237597/coronavirus-and-the-divide-between-young-and-old.
FERNANDES T., COSTA M. (2021), “Privacy concerns with COVID-19 tracking apps: a privacy calculus approach”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print, n. ahead-of-print.
FONT X., HINDLEY A. (2017), “Understanding tourists’ reactance to the threat of a loss of freedom to travel due to climate change: A new alternative approach to encouraging nuanced behavioural change”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 25, n. 1, pp. 26-42.
FORNELL C., LARCKER D.F. (1981), “Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error”, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 18, n. 1, pp. 39-50.
FOX G., CLOHESSY T., VAN DER WERFF L., ROSATI P., LYNN T. (2021), “Exploring the competing influences of privacy concerns and positive beliefs on citizen acceptance of contact tracing mobile applications”, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 121, pp. 1-15.
GELBRICH K. (2010), “Anger, frustration, and helplessness after service failure: coping strategies and effective informational support”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 38, pp. 567-585.
GEORGIEVA I., BEAUNOVER E., GUITTON M.J. (2021), “Ensuring social acceptability of technological tracking in the COVID-19 context”, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 116, pp. 1-8.
GLASER B.G., STRAUSS A.L. (2017), Discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Routledge.
GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY (2021), “GHS Index Country Profile for Italy. GHS Index 2022”, https://www.ghsindex.org/country/italy/.
GRANDPRE J., ALVARO E.M., BURGOON M., MILLER C.H., HALL J.R. (2003), “Adolescent reactance and anti-smoking campaigns: A theoretical approach”, Health communication, vol. 15, n. 3, 349-pp. 349-366.
HAUFF J.C., NILSSON J. (2021), “Individual costs and societal benefits: the privacy calculus of contact-tracing apps”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. ahead-of-print, n. ahead-of-print.
HE W., ZHANG Z., LI W. (2021), “Information technology solutions, challenges, and suggestions for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic”, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 57, pp. 1-8.
HORNIK R., JACOBSOHN L., ORWIN R., PIESSE A., KALTON G. (2008), “Effects of the national youth anti-drug media campaign on youths”, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 98, n. 12, pp. 2229-2236.
IRMAK C., MURDOCK M.R., KANURI V.K. (2020), “When consumption regulations backfire: The role of political ideology”, Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 57, n. 5, pp. 966-984.
ITALIAN MINISTRY OF HEALTH (2020), “Campagna di comunicazione - App Immuni”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVz582QOrxs.
JAHARI S.A., HASS A., HASS D., JOSEPH M. (2022), “Navigating privacy concerns through societal benefits: A case of digital contact tracing applications”, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 21, n. 3, pp. 625-638.
JÖRESKOG K.G., SÖRBOM D. (2006), “LISREL 8.80”, Lincolnwood, IL: Scientific Software International Inc.
KING N., HORROCKS C. (2010), Interviews in Qualitative Research, Sage, London.
KRPAN D., DOLAN P. (2020), “You must stay at home! The impact of commands on behaviours during COVID-19”, Social Psychological and Personality Science, vol. 13, n. 1, pp. 333-346.
LAURIN K., KAY A.C., PROUDFOOT D., FITZSIMONS G.J. (2013), “Response to restrictive policies: Reconciling system justification and psychological reactance”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 122, n. 2, pp. 152-162.
LAVOIE N.R., QUICK B.L., RILES J.M., LAMBERT N.J. (2017), “Are graphic cigarette warning labels an effective message strategy? A test of psychological reactance theory and source appraisal”, Communication Research, vol. 43, n. 3, pp. 416-436.
MIKULINCER M. (1988), “Reactance and helplessness following exposure to unsolvable problems: The effects of attributional style”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 54, n. 4, pp. 679-686.
OPEN (2020). “Il viceministro Sileri: Piano Crisanti sul tavolo del Cts: d’accordo sui tamponi a tappeto. Immuni? Flop tra i giovani: sia obbligatorio a scuola”, https://www.open.online/2020/08/31/coronavirus-pierpaolo-sileri-tamponi-piano-crisanti-cts/.
RAND W.M. (1971), “Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 66, n. 336, pp .846-850.
ROBIN R., DANDIS A.O. (2022), “Business as usual through contact tracing app: what influences intention to download?”, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 37, n. 17-18, pp. 1903-1932.
ROSENBERG B.D., SIEGEL J.T. (2018), “A 50-year review of psychological reactance theory: Do not read this article”, Motivation Science, vol. 4, n. 4, pp. 281-300.
SMITH B.W., DALEN J., WIGGINS K., TOOLEY E., CHRISTOPHER P., BERNARD J. (2008), “The brief resilience scale: assessing the ability to bounce back”, International journal of behavioral medicine, vol. 15, n. 3, pp. 194-200.
STATISTA (2023), “Incidence of coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom as of January 13, 2023, by country”, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1111779/coronavirus-death-rate-europe-by-country/
THE CONVERSATION (2020), “Why the UK government is paying social media influencers to post about coronavirus”, https://theconversation.com/why-the-uk-government-is-paying-social-media-influencers-to-post-about-coronavirus-145478.
THE NEW YORK TIMES (2020), “Contact Tracing, Key to Reining In the Virus, Falls Flat in the West”, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/03/world/europe/covid-c.
TRANG S., TRENZ M., WEIGER W.H., TARAFDAR M., CHEUNG C.M.K. (2020), “One app to trace them all? Examining app specifications for mass acceptance of contact-tracing apps”, European Journal of Information System, vol. 29, n. 4, pp. 415-428.
VELICIA-MARTIN F., CABRERA-SANCHEZ J.P., GIL-CORDERO E., PALOS-SANCHEZ P.R. (2021), “Researching COVID-19 tracing app acceptance: incorporating theory from the technological acceptance model”, PeerJ Computer Science, vol 7, pp. 1-20.
WHANG C., IM H. (2021), “I Like Your Suggestion! The role of humanlikeness and parasocial relationship on the website versus voice shopper's perception of recommendations”, Psychology & Marketing, vol. 38, n. 4, pp. 581-595.
WHITE T.B., ZAHAY D.L., THORBJØRNSEN H., SHAVITT S. (2008), “Getting too personal: Reactance to highly personalized email solicitations”, Marketing Letters, vol. 19, n. 1, pp. 39-50.
XIE C., BAGOZZI RP, GRØNHAUG K. (2015), “The role of moral emotions and individual differences in consumer responses to corporate green and non-green actions”, Journal of the academy of Marketing Science, vol. 43, n. 3, pp. 333-356.
