Understanding the Motivations of Young Adults to Engage in Privacy Protection Behavior While Setting Up Smartphone Apps: A Cross-Country Comparison Between Romania and Germany

Abstract

Smartphones have become daily companions and store many personal information, including contact lists, photos, and videos. Even though users download smartphone apps for various purposes, they are also data collection instruments. Within the Protection Motivation Theory research streamline, the present research focuses from a comparative perspective on young adults’ concerns and engagement with privacy protection behaviors while setting up smartphone apps. Aiming to assess how threat and coping appraisals relate to privacy protection behavior from a comparative perspective, we conducted an online survey ( N = 931) in Germany ( n = 479) and Romania ( n = 452) with young adults (age 18–26 years). Findings showed differences between the two countries in the sense that individuals’ overarching privacy attitudes transfer to and manifest in the context-specific behavior of setting up apps. For German young adults, susceptibility and severity of the data collection by companies are positively related to privacy protection behavior while setting up apps. Romanians are confident that they can protect their data by setting up apps. For German and Romanian young adults, self-efficacy in online communication was related to response efficacy of privacy protection while configuring apps.