Feeling good about letting go? Learned helplessness and privacy calculus in citizen acceptance of electronic identification apps

Drawing on learned helplessness theory and privacy calculus theory, this research investigates how privacy helplessness influences citizens’ benefit-privacy trade-offs in using electronic identification (eID) apps. Using Vietnam as a research context, potential eID app users were surveyed to uncover how a sense of privacy helplessness influences their eID app usage decisions. Findings from the partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that individuals engage in benefit-privacy trade-offs when deciding to install the app, and that privacy helplessness moderated the relationships between hedonic value and perceived benefit, and between usage likelihood and anticipated well-being. These results indicate that citizens experiencing high privacy helplessness derive greater enjoyment from using eID apps and anticipate improvements in their subjective well-being. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) further revealed that individuals are willing to use eID apps despite privacy concerns and limited perceived value, suggesting that privacy helplessness can supplant perceived benefit in the benefit-privacy equation. FsQCA also showed that a lack of perceived utilitarian value is a key deterrent to eID app usage. This research contributes to theory by elucidating the role of privacy helplessness in benefit-privacy trade-offs. Specifically, while prior work focuses on the negative outcomes of helplessness, our findings highlight its potential to shift citizens’ attention towards hedonic value and anticipated well-being. Furthermore, this study proposes a reconsideration of the theoretical focus, suggesting that technology adoption may signify resignation to protection measures instead of pure acceptance. The research concludes with practical recommendations for ethical strategies to promote eID app usage rather than capitalizing on privacy helplessness.