Techno-Paranoia, Techno-Fear and Narcissism as Determinants of Consumer Trust in Wearables

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the age of digital transformation and the transformation of traditional forms of communication between consumers and brands, wearables have successively become the next channel of contact after smartphones. On the basis of the literature review and an overview of the available devices of this type on the market, three categories of wearables have been identified: non-interfering (e.g. smart watches), indirect (protruding devices) applied to the body (e.g. smart tattoo, smart earrings) and interfering with the consumer’s body (e.g. subcutaneous chips, implants on organs inside the body or brain). The purpose of this paper was to assess the level of trust in wearables technology and its determinants, such as the respondent’s level of narcissism and fear of technology, using the constructs techno-paranoia and techno-fear among young respondents as examples. It turned out that out of the three tested predictors, only two of them turned out to be significant (techno-fear and techno-paranoia significantly (negatively) determine the level of trust). Techno-paranoia was significant for each of the three types of wearables technology, while techno-fear was only significant for non-invasive technologies.