Exploring young adults’ unwillingness to adopt COVID-19 contact tracing apps. A mixed-method study

Frame of the research: The field of research that investigates responses to external threats has recently provided evidence concerning consumer responses to COVID-19-related threats. Drawing on psychological reactance theory, we focus on how young adults respond to government-imposed containment measures that threaten individual freedom. Purpose of the paper: We investigate how and when young adults’ unwillingness to adopt COVID-19 contact tracing apps (CTAs) reflects their focus on government-imposed containment measures and the perceived difficulty in restoring freedom. We also develop empirically based clusters of young adults who differ in terms of their focus on containment measures, the difficulty in restoring freedom, and CTA adoption intentions. Methodology: We use a mixed-method approach. Through an initial qualitative study featuring in-depth interviews, we explore young adults’ perceptions of government-imposed containment measures and their difficulty in restoring freedom to examine how and when these perceptions reflect reduced CTA adoption intentions. Next, through a survey, we conduct a k-means cluster analysis to identify different groups of young adults. Findings: The perceived restrictive nature of government-imposed measures threatens young adults’ freedom and diminishes their CTA adoption intentions. The difficulty in restoring freedom defines when psychological states of reactance (vs. helplessness) occur. Finally, four clusters of young adults emerge: engendered dissidents, apathetic, optimistic adopters, and lost needing guidance. Research limits: Future research might include consumers of diverse generations to explore age-based differences or use representative samples of diverse countries to account for cultural variations. Practical implications: The findings contribute to understanding the failure of CTA adoption among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, they offer relevant knowledge to promote CTA adoption if future pandemics occur. Originality of the paper: In addition to privacy concerns and usability issues as main barriers to CTA adoption, we offer a complementary perspective leveraging psychological reactance.