The behavioral response to Location Based Services: An examination of the influence of social and environmental benefits, and privacy

Abstract

Given the importance tourism has in many economies, this research was designed to study how the social and environmental benefits of Location Based Services (LBS) in the tourism sector influence user behavior and thus contribute to sustainable development. The objective has been to study LBS as a solution that makes the deployment of tourism activities easier, more useful and improves attitudes towards it, but in a context where trust in privacy and benefits-based sustainable social and environmental development are key. To achieve this, this research identifies what could be the influence factors in the adoption of mobile applications with Location Based Services from the point of view of the tourism sector, especially if the social and environmental benefits of LBS can help improve usage behavior. We investigated the technological acceptance of LBS in tourism, using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a solid model to explain its adoption. Nine hypotheses were investigated by carrying out a survey of travelers (n = 277) during their visit to Seville (Spain). To test the conceptual model's hypotheses, the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique was applied to estimate variance-based structural equations models (SEM).The results of this study indicated that tourists are willing to accept these LBS services within a particular adoption model, where trust in privacy and social and environmental benefits are paramount.