ABSTRACT

Data breaches and cyber incidents are on the rise, and companies continually research new technologies to defend against attacks and protect customer data. The blockchain is a data store designed to promote data privacy, as well as transaction integrity. Enterprises in several industries, especially banking, have investigated the implementation of blockchain-based databases to replace centralised databases as one mechanism for protecting customers’ data by separating transactional data from personally identifiable information. Despite the blockchain’s privacy protections, consumers remain largely unaware of these benefits. Building on the Health Belief Model (HBM), we include privacy concerns and inertia as critical factors that influence consumers’ perceptions of blockchain-based databases’ benefits. Using a sample of 304 respondents, we test a theoretical model incorporating these factors. Our study results indicate threat severity, threat susceptibility, awareness, and inertia significantly influence the perceived benefits of blockchain, which has a significant positive influence on consumers’ intention to switch to blockchain-based applications. Although consumers’ comfort with the status quo of traditional banking mechanisms is a significant barrier to the realisation of blockchain banking applications benefits, additional awareness of consumer privacy protections can persuade customers to use the blockchain-based applications, especially if they exhibit heightened privacy concerns.

摘要

数据泄露和网络事件呈上升趋势，公司不断研究新技术以抵御攻击和保护客户数据。区块链是一种旨在促进数据隐私和交易完整性的数据存储。多个行业的企业，尤其是银行业，已经研究了基于区块链的数据库的实施，以取代集中式数据库，作为一种通过将交易数据与个人身份信息分离来保护客户数据的机制。尽管区块链提供隐私保护，但消费者基本上仍未意识到这些好处。在健康信念模型 (HBM) 的基础上，我们将隐私问题和惯性作为影响消费者对基于区块链的数据库优势的看法的关键因素。使用 304 名受访者作为样本，我们测试了包含这些因素的理论模型。我们的研究结果表明，威胁严重性、威胁敏感性、意识和惰性会显着影响区块链的感知优势，这对消费者转向基于区块链的应用程序的意愿有显着的积极影响。尽管消费者对传统银行机制现状的满意程度是实现区块链银行应用程序优势的重大障碍，但对消费者隐私保护的额外意识可以说服客户使用基于区块链的应用程序，尤其是在他们表现出高度隐私担忧的情况下。和惯性显着影响区块链的感知收益，这对消费者转向基于区块链的应用程序的意愿有显着的积极影响。尽管消费者对传统银行机制现状的满意程度是实现区块链银行应用程序优势的重大障碍，但对消费者隐私保护的额外意识可以说服客户使用基于区块链的应用程序，尤其是在他们表现出高度隐私担忧的情况下。和惯性显着影响区块链的感知收益，这对消费者转向基于区块链的应用程序的意愿有显着的积极影响。尽管消费者对传统银行机制现状的满意程度是实现区块链银行应用程序优势的重大障碍，但对消费者隐私保护的额外意识可以说服客户使用基于区块链的应用程序，尤其是在他们表现出高度隐私担忧的情况下。