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The U.S. Government is developing a package label to help consumers access reliable security and privacy information about Internet of Things (IoT) devices when making purchase decisions. The label will include the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, a QR code to scan for more details, and potentially additional information. To examine how label information complexity and educational interventions affect comprehension of security and privacy attributes and label QR code use, we conducted an online survey with 518 IoT purchasers. We examined participants’ comprehension and preferences for three labels of varying complexities, with and without an educational intervention. Participants favored and correctly utilized the two higher-complexity labels, showing a special interest in the privacy-relevant content. Furthermore, while the educational intervention improved understanding of the QR code’s purpose, it had a modest effect on QR scanning behavior. We highlight clear design and policy directions for creating and deploying IoT security and privacy labels.
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To Scan or Not to Scan: The Question of Consumer Behavior and QR Codes on Food Packages.
We conducted a field experiment involving the purchase of oysters to offer market-based evidence on whether consumers will scan quick response (QR) codes on food packages, a new labeling technology proposed by the SmartLabelTM initiative. In an artefactual marketplace selling oysters, only 1.2% participants scanned the QR code labels with their own devices. However, providing free access to a QR-scanning smartphone induced 52.6% of participants to access labeling information—a large improvement even compared to when this information was provided directly on the package. Furthermore, consumers’ responses to the additional information were similar regardless of how the information was delivered.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1757353
- PAR ID:
- 10100592
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of agricultural and resource economics
- Volume:
- 44
- ISSN:
- 1068-5502
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 311-327
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- The DOI is not currently available.
