ABSTRACT

The Effect of Perceived Value and Information Disclosure on Continuous Usage in Location Based Services Users

By Park, Kyung-Ah
Adviced By Prof. Lee, Dae Yong, Ph. D.
Department of Business Administration,
Graduate School of Chosun University

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 has the purpose to examine the effects of the perceived values and information releasing intention of location based service user on sustainable use. To that end, the benefits obtained by providing personal information for location based service proposed in prospect theory and trade-off theory, the perceived benefits, were set as the original benefits and mobile location based service benefits, and the perceived costs were counted as efforts cost, monetary cost and risk cost for location information and the risk cost for personal information.
Also, in order to estimate the consequentially colliding relations of the benefits and cost of using location based services, perceived value, security reinforcing efforts and intention, and information releasing intention were set as media parameter, and after study model was designed with intention for sustainable use included as dependent parameter, hypotheses were configured.
For this study, data were collected through questionnaire survey via both online and offline on users who are receiving location based services, and after the hypotheses were verified in statistical analysis method, logical grounds were proposed. The data collected through questionnaire survey was analyzed positively by utilizing SPSS 12.0 and SmartPLS 2.0 to analyze the demographical characteristics and exploration factors of respondents and verify the validity of the study.
In this study, 6 hypotheses were set, and the results of verification of study hypotheses can be summed up as follows:
As for the hypothesis conclusion of the perceived benefits and perceived values in hypothesis H1, perceived joy, accuracy and situation based providing efficiency the perceived benefits all were analyzed as significantly related to perceived values, so they were all adopted as hypotheses. Judging from such study results, service provider should provide high accuracy location information and moving direction data by identifying user location and moving direction accurately to deliver joy, excitement and satisfaction to users while they use location based services. In addition, service providers are required to provide optimal data in consideration of personal identification data and access time etc when user uses mobile location based service. Therefore, companies that conduct various activities using mobile service are desired to establish strategies to raise profits through additional services by identifying the benefits that user demands.
As for the conclusion of hypothesis on the perceived cost and perceived value in hypothesis H2, efforts cost, monetary cost, location information risk cost and risk cost of personal information all did not have significant effects on perceived values, so they were rejected as hypotheses. Judging based on such study results, efforts cost and monetary cost among the costs that user perceives are recognized as the cost sacrificed during use of smart phone rather than cost sacrificed during use of location based service. In addition, also risk cost for location information and risk cost for personal information, as they turned out that user's personal information may be under risk of rampant disclosure, do not affect user's perceived value. Therefore, companies are desired to establish strategies to provide education and reliability to minimize risk potential while user uses location based services.
As for the hypothesis conclusion on the perceived risk cost and security reinforcing efforts and intention in hypothesis H3, location information risk cost and personal information risk cost both were analyzed as significantly related to security reinforcing efforts intention, and thus they were adopted as hypothesis. Judging from such study results, companies are desired to help users perform security reinforcing activities by establishing strategy to ensure that users can easily access security reinforcing activities that can minimize risk of location information and personal information while using location based services, and create and distribute safe apps for location based services with less risk elements. Also, the government and public organizations also are required to protect users legally when they are exposed to risk.
As for the hypothesis conclusion on the perceived value, security reinforcing efforts and intention, information releasing intention and intention for sustainable use in hypothesis H4, perceived value was analyzed as significantly related to security reinforcing efforts and intention, information releasing intention and intention for sustainable use all, so all of them were adopted as applicable hypothesis. It was found that the higher perceived value, the higher security reinforcing efforts and intention, information releasing intention and intention for sustainable use. Therefore, companies are required identify the location based services that users prefer, and also since the intention for information disclosure of users who highly recognize perceived value, they need to have the right recognition of information disclosure.
As for the hypothesis conclusion of the security reinforcing efforts and intention, intention for information disclosure and intention for sustainable use in hypothesis H5, location information disclosure and intention for personal information disclosure both were analyzed as significantly related to security reinforcing efforts and intention, but what is interesting is that according to study results, when security efforts are reinforced, location information is disclosed, but personal information are not. Also, as for intention for sustainable use, the effects were not significant, and this indicates that users who are sensitive on security are reluctant to sustainably use location information services through smart phone even if security is reinforced.
Such study results indicate that companies are required to accurately provide location information and personal information that should be provided by services when user uses location based services. Also, when using location based services, users are required to be prudent in disclosing personal information always, and companies also need to have strategies to ensure that practical benefits go to users.
As for the hypothesis conclusion of the information disclosing intention and intention for sustainable use in hypothesis H6, location information disclosing intention was analyzed as significantly related to intention for sustainable use, so it was adopted as hypothesis, but personal information did not affect intention for sustainable use significantly, so it was rejected as hypothesis. Such study results indicate that users of location based services do not distinguish between location information disclosure and personal information disclosure accurately, so it is necessary to let the users know that minimum personal information are required for use of location based services and to remove potential risk factors to reduce risk by supply of personal information.
In this study, the benefits that users perceive while using smart phone and the perceived cost contrary to it were examined. It was found that users will use location based services sustainably by providing information if the perceived benefit is greater that cost, and avoid using the services if cost is greater when the potential gains from the perceived benefits in using location based services and risk cost the loss were evaluated through prospect theory the theory of this study.
Also, it was found that there exists certain trade-off from the generation of benefits that user obtained while using location based service and cost to be paid to receive the benefits. This will sacrifice the cost that should be undertaken to receive the benefits of better location based services in mobile service, and in order to minimize such sacrifice, more efforts will be put to reinforce security, which will lead to disclosure of personal information and sustainable use.