Data: To Share or Not To Share? - An analysis of factors impacting the intention of consumers to share transportation data in the Swedish inner-city mobility context

Abstract: In this research project, we conducted a mixed methods study to analyze the factors that have an impact on the consumer's intention to share data. Whereas the vast majority of academic research on the consumer focuses on data privacy concerns, there is little research on the intention to share data from the consumer's perspective. Based on the pre-study interviews and literature review we adapted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as our theoretical model and extended it by four additional theories. Our empirical data collection focused on non-sensitive transportation data in the Swedish mobility setting and consisted of two steps. Our first step was to collect and analyze 391 questionnaire results to generate insights about the factors for consumers to share their data in the mobility context. We conducted a Structural Equation Modelling analysis to test the hypotheses of our theoretical model. Our second step was to conduct three focus groups with selected participants based on their previous questionnaire answers to understand the reasoning behind these factors. The results were that high perceived benefits one receives in exchange for sharing data, i.e. Performance Expectancy, and low perceived barriers of sharing the data, i.e. Effort Expectancy, have a significant impact on the consumer's intention to share data. Furthermore, we found that transparency is a highly valued factor together with the overall feeling of sharing data that impact individuals' decision making in those situations. Contrary, social relations are not impacting individuals' intention to share their data. The results have implications for the government in terms of Open Data initiatives, city planning and legislation, and for businesses in terms of data collection and design of the transportation service.