Privacy-related Decision-making in the Context of Wearable Use

The widespread use of wearables for self-tracking activities despite potential privacy risks is an intriguing phenomenon. For firms, the data collected from individuals’ wearable use are highly valuable for generating in-depth customer insights. Accordingly, firms have an increasing desire for these data. Despite the undisputed relevance of self-tracking activities in practice, there is scarce knowledge among information systems (IS) scholars about the perceived values of wearables that drive individuals’ use and the reasons why these values prevail over the privacy risks. Against this background, our research set out to better understand why people use wearables despite privacy risks by investigating the perceived values of wearables that drive individuals’ use and disclosure of data and the reasons why these values prevail over privacy risks of wearable use. Based on the concept of the privacy calculus and concepts from behavioural decision-making, we conducted in-depth interviews with 22 wearable users from Switzerland. As a result, we reveal eight values that individuals perceive through the use of wearable devices. Furthermore, we illustrate the low awareness regarding privacy risks and explain how the reliance on prominent dimensions and heuristics are influencing individuals’ value-risk assessment.