The smart wearables-privacy paradox: A cluster analysis of smartwatch users

Smart wearables are revolutionising how users communicate and acquire information. Yet, the user benefits of smart wearables largely depend on the devices’ ability to collect and analyze a large amount of user data, shaping smart wearables-privacy paradox. The current study explores user responses to the smart wearables-privacy paradox through a survey with smartwatch users (N = 494). Using a cluster analysis method, we identified three distinct groups of smartwatch users – ambivalent, benefit-oriented, and neutral – based on their responses to the smart wearables-privacy paradox. The ambivalent users, who exhibit high levels of both perceived benefit and privacy concerns, were the largest group, followed by benefit-oriented, and neutral groups. We found that the ambivalent users, compared to the benefit-oriented users, tend to be young, male and highly educated, and to show high levels of technology self-efficacy and smartwatch usage. However, the ambivalent users displayed less positive attitudes and a lower continued intention of using the smartwatches than the benefit-oriented users.