Conference Paper

The Influence of Privacy Concerns on Cryptocurrency Acceptance

Authors:
  • Continental Automotive Technologies GmbH
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Abstract

Despite the hype, cryptocurrencies have to far failed to establish themselves as a means of payment for everyday transactions, spawning a wealth of research into acceptance factors and obstacles for cryptocurrency adoption. Our paper adds to this literature by investigating the role of organizational privacy concerns and risk perceptions on cryptocurrency acceptance. Employing a representative survey of German e-commerce users with 257 respondents we find that while risk perceptions and concerns about data collection do affect adoption willingness for cryptocurrencies, neither are useful for predicting actual adoption behavior. This is especially notable since the lack of central counterparties that may steal funds or personal data was one of the original motivations for the creation of the first cryptocurrencies. Our results provide insight into the nature of cryptocurrency adoption and highlights a discrepancy between intention and behavior.

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Organizational information practices can result in a variety of privacy problems that can increase consumers' concerns for information privacy. To explore the link between individuals and organizations regarding privacy, we study how institutional privacy assurances such as privacy policies and industry self-regulation can contribute to reducing individual privacy concerns. Drawing on Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory, we develop a research model suggesting that an individual's privacy concerns form through a cognitive process involving perceived privacy risk, privacy control, and his or her disposition to value privacy. Furthermore, individuals' perceptions of institutional privacy assurances -- namely, perceived effectiveness of privacy policies and perceived effectiveness of industry privacy self-regulation -- are posited to affect the riskcontrol assessment from information disclosure, thus, being an essential component of privacy concerns. We empirically tested the research model through a survey that was administered to 823 users of four different types of websites: 1) electronic commerce sites, 2) social networking sites, 3) financial sites, and 4) healthcare sites. The results provide support for the majority of the hypothesized relationships. The study reported here is novel to the extent that existing empirical research has not explored the link between individuals' privacy perceptions and institutional privacy assurances. We discuss implications for theory and practice and provide suggestions for future research.
Article
One promising area of mobile commerce (m-commerce) that is receiving growing attention globally is mobile payment (m-payment). m-payment refers to making payments using mobile devices. Understanding the determinants of consumer acceptance of m-payment will provide important theoretical contributions to the field and lead to the development of more effective m-payment devices and systems. By expanding the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), this study proposes a research model that examines the factors which determine consumer acceptance of m-payment. Significant support for the model was found in the data collected from a survey of 299 potential m-payment users. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are provided.
Article
This study examines cross-cultural differences beliefs related to e-commerce use for Italy and the United States. We argue that for both cultures, the user's decision to make an online purchase is simultaneously influenced by a set of contrary factors. These include decision facilitators such as propensity to trust and institutional trust, and decision inhibitors such as perceived risk and privacy concerns. We argue that substantial cultural differences exist that affect the above factors and the relationships among them. We use Hofstede's cultural theory and Fukuyama's theory of trust and social capital, along with emic factors important for the Italian society, to develop the study's propositions. The hypotheses were empirically tested using LISREL structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. The results revealed that the Italian society exhibited lower propensity to trust, institutional trust, privacy concerns, and higher perceived risk. The relationships between institutional trust and e-commerce use, privacy concerns and e-commerce use, and perceived risk and institutional trust are all weaker for Italy. The relationship between perceived risk and privacy concerns is stronger for Italy. The paper's major contribution is in validating an important model of e-commerce use across two cultures and showing the moderating effects of culture.European Journal of Information Systems (2006) 15, 389–402. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000590
Article
Information privacy has been called one of the most important ethical issues of the informa-tion age. Public opinion polls show rising levels of concern about privacy among Americans. Against this backdrop, research into issues associated with information privacy is increasing. Based on a number of preliminary studies, it has become apparent that organizational practices, individuals' perceptions of these practices, and societal responses are inextricably linked in many ways. Theories regarding these relationships are slowly emerging. Unfortunately, researchers attempting to examine such relationships through confirmatory empirical approaches may be impeded by the lack of validated instruments for measuring individuals' concerns about organizational information privacy practices. To enable future studies in the information privacy research stream, we developed and validated an instrument that identifies and measures the primary dimensions of individuals' concerns about organizational information privacy practices. The development process included examinations of privacy literature; experience surveys and focus groups; and the use of expert judges. The result was a parsimonious 15-item instrument with four sub-scales tapping into dimensions of individuals' concerns about organizational information privacy practices. The instrument was rigorously tested and validated across several heterogenous populations, providing a high degree of confidence in the scales' validity, reliability, and generalizability.
Article
Let xx and yy be two random variables with continuous cumulative distribution functions ff and gg. A statistic UU depending on the relative ranks of the xx's and yy's is proposed for testing the hypothesis f=gf = g. Wilcoxon proposed an equivalent test in the Biometrics Bulletin, December, 1945, but gave only a few points of the distribution of his statistic. Under the hypothesis f=gf = g the probability of obtaining a given UU in a sample of nxsn x's and mysm y's is the solution of a certain recurrence relation involving nn and mm. Using this recurrence relation tables have been computed giving the probability of UU for samples up to n=m=8n = m = 8. At this point the distribution is almost normal. From the recurrence relation explicit expressions for the mean, variance, and fourth moment are obtained. The 2rth moment is shown to have a certain form which enabled us to prove that the limit distribution is normal if m,nm, n go to infinity in any arbitrary manner. The test is shown to be consistent with respect to the class of alternatives f(x)>g(x)f(x) > g(x) for every xx.
Perceived benefit and risk as multidimensional determinants of bitcoin use: A quantitative exploratory study
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