Revisiting the Privacy Paradox: Contextual Dynamics and Privacy Calculus in Branded Mobile Apps Engagement

For pursuing advantages from using branded mobile apps, customers may intuitively, actively, or passively disclose personal information despite privacy risks. The privacy paradox in branded mobile apps is much more severe than in social network sites. We consider contextual factors because privacy protection settings are too complex to be understood. It is a trade-off between outcomes of privacy issues and efforts to deal with them. We consider customers' need to use branded mobile apps. It is a trade-off between essential/optional benefits and required/additional personal information. Results are from analyzing 482 valid data collected by an online survey. The influence of contextual factors (habit) has the greatest impact, followed by monetary rewards and perceived risks. Habit is external to users' calculations of privacy risks and benefits. Users may unconcern privacy disclosure because of their habits, they may feel more comfortable and engagement more. Perceived benefit has no significant effect. Privacy fatigue directly and indirectly influences engagement thru perceived risks. Perceived relevance directly influences engagement and perceived benefits. This study presents implications for both academia and practice based on analysis results.