Which trade-off in Contact Tracing App adoption? A Digital Natives Perspective

This research extends studies of eHealth apps adoption based on the Technology Acceptance Model by addressing the acceptance of Contact Tracing Apps (CTA). The model is extended by adding factors that predict perceived usefulness and ease of use. We study the effect of Digital Nativity of users on CTA acceptance through the mediating effect of a trade-off between trust in the app security and its compatibilitywith personal moral values. 475 responses from potential French CTA adopters are used to test the model through Structural Equation Modeling with the SEMinR package. The results indicate that Digital Nativity helps CTA adoption, suggesting the need to develop different CTA versions depending on users’ comfort with digital. Despite the positive impact of both components of the trade-off on CTAperception, mediation effects suggest that Digital Nativity primarily favors CTA acceptance due to their concern for security. The results confirm the widespread presence of security concerns in the literature, indicating that communication regarding CTA should prioritize security first and collectivist principles second. Parallel to this focus on CTA safety, it appears that education is needed to increase personal data privacy literacy and digital skills among the population. This could potentially enhance the users’ capacity to evaluate CTA, specifically their capacity to appreciate personal information management in eHealth apps.