Impact of Personality Traits and Information Privacy Concern on E-Learning Environment Adoption during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Investigation

Mei-Hui Peng and Bireswar Dutta
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Mei-Hui Peng: Institute of Information Management, Minghsin University of Science and Technology, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
Bireswar Dutta: English Taught Program in Smart Service Management, Department of Information Technology and Management, Taipei Campus, Shih Chien University, Taipei 10462, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-19

Abstract: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching and learning processes have experienced significant changes. Higher education institutions in Taiwan employed crisis intervention measures to instantly implement unified learning methods such as online teaching and learning. However, students had no time to prepare. Thus, the study explored the relationship between personality traits and the belief in conspiracy theory as antecedents of students’ concern for information privacy (CFIP) and the subsequent relationship between students’ CFIP and behavioral intention to report their personal information to e-learning service providers concerning the adoption of the e-learning environment. This cross-sectional study employed a questionnaire to accumulate data from university students in Taiwan. A total of 285 valid responses were used for the final analysis. The research framework was evaluated by structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggest the proposed model explains about 66.4% of the variance of behavioral intention (R 2 = 0.664). The findings support that four personality traits—agreeableness, openness to experiences, conscientiousness, and neuroticism—and belief in conspiracy theory significantly influenced students’ CFIP. However, concerning extraversion, an insignificant path coefficient was reported. CFIP mediates the relationship between belief in conspiracy theory and behavioral intention. E-learning service providers should consider these determinants in improving and endorsing principles concerning e-learning environment adoption.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; personality traits; concern for information privacy; e-learning environment; belief in conspiracy theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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