Emergency notification on mobile devices : a trade-off between protection motivation, privacy concern and personalised notification.

The world today is increasingly being impacted by natural disasters and other threats with both human and natural causes. The number of natural disasters worldwide has increased by more than four times in the last few decades (Gutierrez, 2008). Their effect is also concerning with the average economic impact increasing more than tenfold over the last few decades from US$14 billion in 1976-1985 to US$140 billion in 2005-2014, and the number of persons affected rising from 60 million to over 170 million for the same periods (GFDRR, 2016). This highlights the significant role of contemporary emergency management in order to minimize the potential damage and impact on human lives. A Personalised Mobile Emergency Alert Service (PMEAS) is one of the endeavours that have been adopted by many developed countries. It provides prompt emergency alerts via mobile devices based on user’s current location and personal profile. PMEAS has succeeded in saving lives and properties in many cases (http://www.nws.noaa.gov). However, similar to the other personalised online services that require users to register or disclose personal information in exchange for a service that is tailored to their needs, the users of PMEAS are also expected to disclose personal information to receive customized notifications. Thus, users would be exposed to the potential risks that raise privacy concerns. This study examines the factors that influence an individual to disclose personal information in order to use PMEAS. Since user’s information disclosure is vital for a PMEAS to be successful, the results of this study would also facilitate the understanding of the motivators and inhibitors of information disclosure in PMEAS. This paper reports on an empirical study that investigates individual’s willingness to disclose personal information in order to use PMEAS, focusing on mobile users in New Zealand. Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) is used as a theoretical framework supported by the trade-off between personalisation and privacy concern. The results suggest that applying PMT is useful for explaining an individual’s willingness to disclose personal information to use a PMEAS. By improving the understanding of users’ expectations and concerns, the research outcomes provide insights to the government agencies and PMEAS providers to design and implement better services and to perform better risk management