When WhatsApp Changed its Privacy Policy: Explaining WhatsApp Discontinuation using an Enablers-Inhibitors Perspective

Abstract

<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that enable and inhibit WhatsApp users’ discontinuance intention (DI) following the change in its privacy policy.</p><p><strong>Design/Methodology/Approach:</strong> Using the enabler-inhibitor model as a framework, a research model consisting of discontinuation enabler distrust and its antecedents (negative electronic word of mouth, negative offline word of mouth, and privacy invasion), discontinuation inhibitor inertia and its antecedents (affective commitment, switching cost, and use habit), and moderator structural assurance was proposed and tested with data from 624 WhatsApp users using partial least square structure equational modeling.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>The results show that distrust created due to negative electronic word of mouth and a sense of privacy invasion significantly impact DI. However, inertia has no significant impact on DI. Structural assurance significantly moderates the relationship between distrust and DI.</p><p><strong>Originality/Value: </strong>The paper collected data when many WhatsApp users switched to other platforms due to the change in its terms of service. The timing of data collection allowed for collecting the real impact of the sense of privacy invasion compared to other studies where the effect is hypothetically induced. Further, we acknowledge social media providers' efforts to address privacy criticism and regain users’ trust, an area that has received little attention in prior literature.</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this paper is to understand the factors that enable and inhibit WhatsApp users’ discontinuance intention (DI) following the change in its privacy policy.</p><p><strong>Design/Methodology/Approach:</strong> Using the enabler-inhibitor model as a framework, a research model consisting of discontinuation enabler distrust and its antecedents (negative electronic word of mouth, negative offline word of mouth, and privacy invasion), discontinuation inhibitor inertia and its antecedents (affective commitment, switching cost, and use habit), and moderator structural assurance was proposed and tested with data from 624 WhatsApp users using partial least square structure equational modeling.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>The results show that distrust created due to negative electronic word of mouth and a sense of privacy invasion significantly impact DI. However, inertia has no significant impact on DI. Structural assurance significantly moderates the relationship between distrust and DI.</p><p><strong>Originality/Value: </strong>The paper collected data when many WhatsApp users switched to other platforms due to the change in its terms of service. The timing of data collection allowed for collecting the real impact of the sense of privacy invasion compared to other studies where the effect is hypothetically induced. Further, we acknowledge social media providers' efforts to address privacy criticism and regain users’ trust, an area that has received little attention in prior literature.</p>