Challenges in times of a pandemic: what drives and hinders the adoption of location-based applications?

The current environment is highly dynamic and undergoing continuous change, and the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how firms and governments need to act promptly to face unexpected threats. In this regard, location-based applications have been implemented successfully in China and South Korea, but in some Western countries, serious privacy issues have been raised. With these premises in mind, this paper has the aim of examining the factors that motivate or discourage users to adopt mobile applications able to trace location. The proposed model is based on the combination of the Protection Motivation Theory, the Theory of Planned Behavior, and the Technology Acceptance Model. A variance-based Structural Equations Modeling approach has been used to test the conceptual model using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The findings show that perceived usefulness positively influences attitude. In addition, subjective norms and self-efficacy were found to be the key drivers of the intention to adopt location-based applications, whilst perceived severity emerged as an important barrier. Finally, this study provides empirical evidence for the positive and significant relationship between the intention to use this type of apps and actual behavior. Academic and managerial implications are drawn and future research directions are suggested.