Groping in the dark? Exploring customer perception of hidden actions in smart service ecosystems through the lens of agency theory

Schwinghammer, Ronja

Groping in the dark? Exploring customer perception of hidden actions in smart service ecosystems through the lens of agency theory

Files

0421.pdf (390 KB)

Date

2024-01-03

Authors

Schwinghammer, Ronja

Starting Page

4268

Abstract

Due to new technologies, providers of digital goods and services collect an ever-increasing amount of personal data. Although the GDPR mandates that providers must inform their customers about the handling of their data, past privacy scandals have shown that customers lack information. In this study, we adopt a qualitative-exploratory approach to develop a rich understanding of the practices about which customers are not fully informed. We rely on agency theory to understand hidden actions as an informational advantage of providers. By conducting focus groups, we identify perceptions of three key hidden actions of smart product customers in B2C service ecosystems. Building on the hidden actions, we understand the relationship between customer and provider in smart service ecosystems characterized by information asymmetries. With our research, we provide the first steps towards understanding the nature and role of hidden actions in the context of smart service ecosystems. For practitioners, we provide guidance on how to effectively reduce information asymmetries.

Keywords

Designing Data Ecosystems: Value, Impacts, and Fundamentals, agency theory, hidden action, personal data, smart product, smart service ecosystem

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10125/106898

Extent

10 pages

Related To

Proceedings of the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Collections

Designing Data Ecosystems: Value, Impacts, and Fundamentals

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