The privacy-personalization paradox in the context of the online mental health care industry

Abstract

The rapid delvelopment of digital technologies created a shift in the mental health care industry and the demand for online acces is rising. The goal of this research was to explore the privacy-personalization paradox in the context of online mental health care websites, to examine its effects on trust, perceived usefulness and likelihood of use. The paradox states that personalization requires consumer data, but the data collection creates data privacy concerns among consumers, thus inhibiting the personalization of services. It was hypothesized that high personalization and low privacy concern have positive effects on trust, perceived usefulness and likelihood of use, compared to low personalization and high privacy concern. This is explored under the lens of the social exchange theory. A survey was conducted using a mixed-subject design, where participants were either assigned to a high or low privacy concern condition (between-subject), then, both were exposed to a personalized, as well as a non-personalized condition (within-subject). Findings showed that personalization has a significant positive effect on trust, perceived usefulness and likelihood of use, compared to no personalization. Additionally, low privacy concern increases trust and likelihood of use, thus suggesting a paradoxical relationship. However, privacy concern has no significant effect on perceived usefulness, suggesting an absence of the paradox. These findings are relevant for practitioners to understand and balance the paradox when offering e-mental health care to customers.

Date of Award	1 Feb 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Sofia Jacinto (Supervisor)