New publication in European Journal of Information Systems: One app to trace them all? Examining app specifications for mass acceptance of contact-tracing apps

An article by Simon Trang, Manuel Trenz, Welf H. Weiger, Monideepa Tarafdar and Christy Cheung entitled "One app to trace them all? Examining app specifications for mass acceptance of contact-tracing apps" has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Information Systems. 

About the study: Currently, corona warning apps for tracing infection chains are designed and offered worldwide. Such contact-tracing apps are a central component of national strategies for easing contact restrictions - also in Germany. However, in order to be successful, these apps must be accepted and actively used by a large part of the population. Decision-makers must therefore design apps in a suitable manner in order to achieve mass acceptance. 

The authors investigated which aspects are particularly relevant for different parts of the population in an experimental study for which various contact tracing apps were designed. The results show that the aspects data protection, convenience, and app benefits are weighted differently within the population. While, for example, privacy is important for people who are critics of such an application as well as for those who are undecided about it, convenience, which is optimized for example through low battery consumption or by being user-friendly, seems to be particularly important for those who are undecided. Further, it seems crucial to communicate the beneficial outcomes of the app in a certain way. The results indicate that a clearly focused communication strategy that emphasizes the social benefits of contact tracing apps (for example: "Protect the population") is most effective. The study provides explanations for the failure of existing contact-tracing apps and simultaneously provides decision-makers with important insights into key considerations for designing these applications.

You can access the full article here. 

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