The privacy protection behaviours of the mobile app users: exploring the role of neuroticism and protection motivation theory

Unprecedented and aggressive data access and transmission practices employed by vendors and mobile app developers have aggravated mobile app users’ privacy invasion and privacy concerns. Mobile apps increasingly collect data about users’ behaviour, personal preferences, location, and other personally-identifying information. Often, these data are collected without users’ permission, are unnecessary for the mobile app’s functionality, and are used for unauthorised purposes. We propose a comprehensive but parsimonious research model by drawing upon the protection motivation theory, the theory of planned behaviour, and personality traits literature. The study empirically examines the factors that influence mobile app users’ privacy concerns and how these concerns drive users’ intention and behaviour to use mobile apps. The findings indicate that the threat appraisal has a strong effect on users’ privacy concerns and the personality trait of neuroticism has a substantial effect on perceived vulnerability and perceived severity. Results also indicate that privacy protection behaviours are influenced by users’ coping appraisal and intention to protect their privacy. Our work contributes to the privacy protection behaviour and mobile app privacy literature. We discuss the implications of the results for researchers and practitioners.