Why People Authorize Physicians to Access Their Wearable Device Data for Mental Health Management: A Cubic Response Surface Analysis of Privacy Calculus

Wearable devices have shown good potential to improve mental health management, but their benefits largely depend on whether physicians are authorized to access patients’ data in wearable devices. However, few studies have examined this important issue. Drawing upon privacy calculus theory and congruence research, our study uses cubic response surface analysis to examine how different combinations of perceived benefits and risks would relate to patients' intention to authorize, thereby better characterizing the benefit-risk trade-off that is the core focus of privacy calculus theory. We further identify three key wearable device affordances (i.e., monitoring, feedback, and intervention affordances) to predict patients' perceived benefits of authorization. Implications to practice and research are also discussed.