“We think you may like this”: An investigation of electronic commerce personalization for privacy‐conscious consumers

Abstract In this study, we examine and propose a personalization technology acceptance model (TAM) for e‐commerce. We conducted a 2 (Privacy concerns priming vs. Control condition) × 2 (Personalization vs. Nonpersonalization) factorial, between‐subjects experiment among college students (Study 1, N = 205) and adult samples (Study 2, N = 211). The findings indicate consumers' perceived usefulness of personalization technology is positively related to their behavioral intentions to use an e‐commerce mobile app, supporting Davis (1989)'s TAM. Data further demonstrate that consumers' privacy concerns (i.e., Study 1) and willingness to self‐disclose (i.e., Study 2) moderate the personalization–behavioral intention relationship. Overall, the efficacious operation of personalization technology in e‐commerce depends on the usefulness and precision of personalized recommendations as well as consumers' privacy concerns and preferences in trading off personal information.