JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The current COVID-19 pandemic shows negative effects on health as well as social and economic life. The most critical and challenging task is to revive public life while minimizing the risk of an infection. Reducing interactions between people by means of social distancing is an effective and prevalent measure to reduce the risk of an infection and spread of the virus within a community. Current developments in several countries show that this measure may be technologically accompanied by mobile applications (apps), while privacy concerns are intensively discussed.

Objective:

The present study aims at central cognitive variables that may constitute people’s motivation for social distancing, using an app, and providing health-related data requested by two app types differing in their direct utility for the individual user. The results help to better understand people’s concerns and convictions in order to specifically address them by public-oriented communication strategies and appropriate political decisions.

Methods:

This study refers to the Protection Motivation Theory being adaptable to both health-related and technology-related motivations. The concept of social trust was added. The quantitative survey included 406 German-speaking participants providing their assessment of data security issues, trust components, and the processes of threat and coping appraisal related to the prevention of a coronavirus infection by means of social distancing. With respect to apps, one central focus was on the difference between a contact tracing app and a data donation app.

Results:

Multiple regression analyses showed that 55% of the inter-individual variance in participants’ motivation for social distancing could be explained by the present model, 44% for using a contact tracing app, 42% for providing one’s own infection status to a contact tracing app, and 34% for using a data donation app. Several cognitive components of threat and coping appraisal were related to motivation measurements. Trust in other people’s social distancing behavior and general trust in official app providers played also an important role, but not participants’ age and gender. Motivations for using and accepting a contact tracing app were higher than for using and accepting a data donation app.

Conclusions:

The presents study revealed some important cognitive factors that constitute people’s motivation for social distancing and using apps in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Concrete implications for future research, public-oriented communication strategies, and appropriate political decisions were found and are discussed.