Privacy paradox in 3D body scanning technology: the effect of 3D virtual try-on experience in the relationship between privacy concerns and mobile app adoption intention

3D body scanning technology has emerged in the retail industry by providing easy access to consumers. The technology has been incorporated with virtual-try-on (VTO) services to capture the accurate size of the human body and to provide user-centric experiences to online consumers. While consumers can have their body images scanned and shared with retailers, it raises concerns related to body information security and privacy. With the concern implied, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of consumers' interaction experience with Avatar-based VTO services in alleviating consumer concerns related to body information privacy to adopt 3D body scanning technology. By adopting the privacy calculus theory and stimulus-organism-response model, the dataset (n = 285) was collected from an online experiment. The direct and indirect paths (i.e., mediation and serial mediation effects) were analyzed by adopting the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. This study finds body information privacy concerns negatively influence the future adoption of 3D body scanning technology while the perception of interactive features (i.e., perceived control, perceived responsiveness) of the VTO service positively enhances the future adoption. The result also indicates that the negative effects of privacy concerns can be mitigated through consumer experiences enhanced by the personalization and responsiveness features of the VTO service. This study contributes to the literature and industry by examining the potential role of consumers' interactive experiences in reducing their concerns about body information privacy.

Song-yi Youn, Joohye Hwang, Li Zhao, Jong-Bum Kim