Heterogeneous User Responses to Privacy Risks in Mobile Apps: Understanding the Dualistic Role of Privacy Risk Perceptions

Building upon the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and the Cognitive Appraisals Theory (CAT), the present study built and tested a comprehensive research model about mobile app users' responses to privacy risks using data collected from 382 users in the United States. The findings show that perceived vulnerability and severity of privacy risks lead to privacy concerns, which in turn is positively associated with privacy protection behaviors and negatively with information disclosure intentions when using mobile apps. Notably, heightened privacy risk perceptions can also paradoxically result in increased information disclosure, particularly when users adopt maladaptive responses such as privacy resignation. Furthermore, privacy self-efficacy beliefs were found to be crucial for both promoting privacy protection behaviors and reducing privacy resignation. The present study specifies distinct theoretical pathways through which privacy risk perceptions have contrasting implications for information disclosure via mobile apps. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.