• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.299-323
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• 2014

The reason location based service is drawing attention recently is because smart phones are being supplied increasingly. Smart phone, basically equipped with GPS that can identify location information, has the advantage that it can provide contents and services suitable for the user by identifying user location accurately. Offering such diverse advantages, location based services are increasingly used. In addition, for use of location based services, release of user's personal information and location data is essentially required. Regarding personal information and location data, in addition to IT companies, general companies also are conducting various profitable businesses and sales activities based on personal information, and in particular, personal location data, comprehending high value of use among personal information, are drawing high attentions. Increase in demand of personal information is raising the risk of personal information infringement, and infringements of personal location data also are increasing in frequency and degree. Therefore, infringements of personal information should be minimized through user's action and efforts to reinforce security along with Act on the Protection of Personal Information and Act on the Protection of Location Information. This study aimed to improve the importance of personal information privacy by empirically analyzing the effect of perceived values on the intention to strengthen location information security and continuously use location information for users who received location-based services (LBS) in mobile environments with the privacy calculation model of benefits and risks as a theoretical background. This study regarded situation-based provision, the benefit which users perceived while using location-based services, and the risk related to personal location information, a risk which occurs while using services, as independent variables and investigated the perceived values of the two variables. It also examined whether there were efforts to reduce risks related to personal location information according to the values of location- based services, which consumers perceived through the intention to strengthen security. Furthermore, it presented a study model which intended to investigate the effect of perceived values and intention of strengthening security on the continuous use of location-based services. A survey was conducted for three hundred ten users who had received location-based services via their smartphones to verify study hypotheses. Three hundred four questionnaires except problematic ones were collected. The hypotheses were verified, using a statistical method and a logical basis was presented. An empirical analysis was made on the data collected through the survey with SPSS 12.0 and SmartPLS 2.0 to verify respondents' demographic characteristics, an exploratory factor analysis and the appropriateness of the study model. As a result, it was shown that the users who had received location-based services were significantly influenced by the perceived value of their benefits, but risk related to location information did not have an effect on consumers' perceived values. Even though users perceived the risk related to personal location information while using services, it was viewed that users' perceived value had nothing to do with the use of location-based services. However, it was shown that users significantly responded to the intention of strengthening security in relation to location information risks and tended to use services continuously, strengthening positive efforts for security when their perceived values were high.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.7-29
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• 2012

Smartphone and its applications (i.e. apps) are increasingly penetrating consumer markets. According to a recent report from Korea Communications Commission, nearly 50% of mobile subscribers in South Korea are smartphone users that accounts for over 25 million people. In particular, the importance of smartphone has risen as a geospatially-aware device that provides various location-based services (LBS) equipped with GPS capability. The popular LBS include map and navigation, traffic and transportation updates, shopping and coupon services, and location-sensitive social network services. Overall, the emerging location-based smartphone apps (LBA) offer significant value by providing greater connectivity, personalization, and information and entertainment in a location-specific context. Conversely, the rapid growth of LBA and their benefits have been accompanied by concerns over the collection and dissemination of individual users' personal information through ongoing tracking of their location, identity, preferences, and social behaviors. The majority of LBA users tend to agree and consent to the LBA provider's terms and privacy policy on use of location data to get the immediate services. This tendency further increases the potential risks of unprotected exposure of personal information and serious invasion and breaches of individual privacy. To address the complex issues surrounding LBA particularly from the user's behavioral perspective, this study applied the privacy calculus model (PCM) to explore the factors that influence the adoption of LBA. According to PCM, consumers are engaged in a dynamic adjustment process in which privacy risks are weighted against benefits of information disclosure. Consistent with the principal notion of PCM, we investigated how individual users make a risk-benefit assessment under which personalized service and locatability act as benefit-side factors and information privacy risks act as a risk-side factor accompanying LBA adoption. In addition, we consider the moderating role of trust on the service providers in the prohibiting effects of privacy risks on user intention to adopt LBA. Further we include perceived ease of use and usefulness as additional constructs to examine whether the technology acceptance model (TAM) can be applied in the context of LBA adoption. The research model with ten (10) hypotheses was tested using data gathered from 98 respondents through a quasi-experimental survey method. During the survey, each participant was asked to navigate the website where the experimental simulation of a LBA allows the participant to purchase time-and-location sensitive discounted tickets for nearby stores. Structural equations modeling using partial least square validated the instrument and the proposed model. The results showed that six (6) out of ten (10) hypotheses were supported. On the subject of the core PCM, H2 (locatability ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) and H3 (privacy risks ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported, while H1 (personalization ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Further, we could not any interaction effects (personalization X privacy risks, H4 & locatability X privacy risks, H5) on the intention to use LBA. In terms of privacy risks and trust, as mentioned above we found the significant negative influence from privacy risks on intention to use (H3), but positive influence from trust, which supported H6 (trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The moderating effect of trust on the negative relationship between privacy risks and intention to use LBA was tested and confirmed by supporting H7 (privacy risks X trust ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA). The two hypotheses regarding to the TAM, including H8 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ perceived usefulness) and H9 (perceived ease of use ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) were supported; however, H10 (perceived effectiveness ${\rightarrow}$ intention to use LBA) was not supported. Results of this study offer the following key findings and implications. First the application of PCM was found to be a good analysis framework in the context of LBA adoption. Many of the hypotheses in the model were confirmed and the high value of $R^2$ (i.,e., 51%) indicated a good fit of the model. In particular, locatability and privacy risks are found to be the appropriate PCM-based antecedent variables. Second, the existence of moderating effect of trust on service provider suggests that the same marginal change in the level of privacy risks may differentially influence the intention to use LBA. That is, while the privacy risks increasingly become important social issues and will negatively influence the intention to use LBA, it is critical for LBA providers to build consumer trust and confidence to successfully mitigate this negative impact. Lastly, we could not find sufficient evidence that the intention to use LBA is influenced by perceived usefulness, which has been very well supported in most previous TAM research. This may suggest that more future research should examine the validity of applying TAM and further extend or modify it in the context of LBA or other similar smartphone apps.