Gonzalez, Christine
Toward a clarification of the intrusiveness of “servicial” mobile applications: The case of food waste
- 2019.
89
Brands and retailers wish to appear benevolent toward consumers. To this end, “servicial” mobile applications are being developed: they support a brands’ value proposition on usefulness and convenience and/or try to modify consumers’ food behavior. However, these new technological devices remain rejected by consumers, in particular because of their intrusive nature. This study takes food waste as a field of study. Two qualitative surveys were conducted using semi-structured interviews to provide a thorough understanding of the intrusiveness of “servicial” mobile applications. Five dimensions of intrusiveness are identified and described: aspiration-intrusiveness, invasiveness-intrusiveness, and breaking-in-intrusiveness, as well as usurping-intrusiveness and interference-intrusiveness on which few research works have been carried out. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.