Willingness to Participate in Passive Mobile Data Collection

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mobile Computing

Background:

• Smartphones enable passive data collection via apps, gathering insights on user behavior.
• This method faces challenges in participant consent and engagement for research.
• Understanding willingness to participate is crucial for effective mobile data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing smartphone users' willingness to participate in passive mobile data collection.
• To identify key study and respondent characteristics that affect participation.
• To inform the design of future mobile data collection studies.

Main Methods:

• Survey of 1,947 German smartphone users from an online panel.
• Utilized hypothetical study vignettes to assess participation willingness.
• Vignettes manipulated study dimensions like incentives, sponsor, duration, and app control.

Main Results:

• Incentives significantly impact willingness to participate in passive mobile data collection.
• Study characteristics (sponsor, duration, app control) and respondent traits (privacy concerns, smartphone experience) also play a role.
• Willingness is influenced by a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors.

Conclusions:

• Participant incentives are a primary driver for engaging users in passive mobile data collection.
• Study design and participant characteristics must be carefully considered to maximize participation.
• Future research should explore optimal strategies for recruiting and retaining participants in mobile data collection studies.