DOI: 10.4018/IJSI.2018010103
International Journal of Software Innovation
Volume 6 • Issue 1 • January-March 2018
Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
31
Determinants of Personal Health
Information Disclosure:
A Case of Mobile Application
Kanokwan Atchariyachanvanich, Faculty of Information Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Bangkok, Thailand
Nichaporn Mitinunwong, Faculty of Information Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Bangkok, Thailand
Butsaraporn Tamthong, Faculty of Information Technology, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Bangkok, Thailand
Noboru Sonehara, Information and Society Research Division, National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan & Tsuda
University, Tokyo, Japan
ABSTRACT
This study explored the factors that affect personal health information (PHI) disclosure via a mobile
application (app) in Thailand. Since mobile apps are increasingly popular, as is the Thai people’s
concern on their health condition, many mobile app service providers want to know which factors
would persuade customers to reveal their PHI via mobile apps. This research model was, therefore,
developed and included the six factors of: personalized service, self-presentation, mobile app
reputation, familiarity, perceived benefits and privacy concerns. The hypotheses were tested by
structural equation modeling using the questionnaire responses from 294 valid subjects. Surprisingly,
privacy concern was not significantly negatively related to the intention to disclose PHI. However,
the significance effect of the perceived benefit, personalized service and self-presentation were
consistent with previous studies. In addition, the respondents were willing to reveal different personal
information in different situations. The implication of the result will shed light on the development
of a healthcare mobile app service provider.
KeywoRDS
Disclosure of Personal Health Information, Mobile Application, Perceived Benefits, Personalized Service,
Privacy Concerns, Self-Presentation
1. INTRoDUCTIoN
The proportion of Thai people who are currently using smartphones, tablets and computers is 64%,
11% and 27%, respectively, which shows the overall growth in the number of mobile devices in
Thailand (Google, 2016). Moreover, the use of mobile applications (apps) via mobile devices is
rapidly increasing because of the advancement in mobile apps. Mobile apps are software that are
installed and run on mobile devices. There are many categories of mobile apps, and these have been
developed to serve different purposes.