Understanding Consumer Evaluations of Personalised Nutrition Services in Terms of the Privacy Calculus: A Qualitative Study

Background: Personalised nutrition (PN) may provide major health benefits to consumers. A potential barrier to the uptake of PN is consumers' reluctance to disclose sensitive information upon which PN is based. This study adopts the privacy calculus to explore how PN service attributes contribu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community genetics 2014-01, Vol.17 (3), p.127-140
Main Authors: Berezowska, Aleksandra, Fischer, Arnout R.H., Ronteltap, Amber, Kuznesof, Sharron, Macready, Anna, Fallaize, Rosalind, van Trijp, Hans C.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
antecedents
Consumer Behavior
electronic commerce
Female
Focus Groups
Humans
information
internet
Male
Middle Aged
nutrigenetics
nutrigenomics
Nutrition Assessment
Original Paper
Perception
perspectives
Precision Medicine - psychology
Privacy - psychology
Public Opinion
Qualitative research
risk
trust
Young Adult
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Summary:Background: Personalised nutrition (PN) may provide major health benefits to consumers. A potential barrier to the uptake of PN is consumers' reluctance to disclose sensitive information upon which PN is based. This study adopts the privacy calculus to explore how PN service attributes contribute to consumers' privacy risk and personalisation benefit perceptions. Methods: Sixteen focus groups (n = 124) were held in 8 EU countries and discussed 9 PN services that differed in terms of personal information, communication channel, service provider, advice justification, scope, frequency, and customer lock-in. Transcripts were content analysed. Results: The personal information that underpinned PN contributed to both privacy risk perception and personalisation benefit perception. Disclosing information face-to-face mitigated the perception of privacy risk and amplified the perception of personalisation benefit. PN provided by a qualified expert and justified by scientific evidence increased participants' value perception. Enhancing convenience, offering regular face-to face support, and employing customer lock-in strategies were perceived as beneficial. Conclusion: This study suggests that to encourage consumer adoption, PN has to account for face-to-face communication, expert advice providers, support, a lifestyle-change focus, and customised offers. The results provide an initial insight into service attributes that influence consumer adoption of PN.
ISSN:1662-4246
1662-8063
DOI:10.1159/000358851