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Why Smartphone Users Are Willing to Share Personal Information Through Mobile Health Apps: Perceptions of Government, Non-for-Profit, and Commercial App Sponsors
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Health
Mobile Advertising
New Technology
Privacy Issues
Abstract
In response to the increased use of mobile apps, companies and organizations are marketing their brand names to smartphone users through app sponsorships. While advertising brand names through app sponsorships is beneficial in many ways, mobile app sponsorships raise important questions about privacy and sponsorship literacy, especially when it comes to sensitive topics such as health. The aim of this research project was to investigate this issue in a series of interviews with residents of a metropolitan area in a Midwestern U.S. state. The findings indicate that participants agreed to provide personal information to use sponsored mHealth apps even though they clearly understood sponsors’ intents. They were willing to “trade” some personal information for high quality and functionality of mHealth. Some participants expressed concerns about control over sharing personal information with other parties, security risks, and advertising spam associated with downloading and using mHealth sponsored apps. Differences in perceptions of commercial, government, and non-profit sponsors were found. The findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of sponsorship literacy.
First & Corresponding Author
Eunsin Joo, Michigan State University
Authors in the order to be printed.
Eunsin Joo, Shaheen Kanthawala, Anastasia Kononova, Wei Peng, Shelia Cotten