Factors influencing consumer attitudes towards biometric identity authentication technology within the Canadian banking industry

Biometrics is the science of measuring either physiological (i.e. fingerprint, iris) or behavioural (i.e. gait, signature) characteristics for the purpose of determining or authenticating one's identity. While there has been considerable research conducted with respect to the technical aspects of biometrics, very little attention has been paid to consumer acceptability of this technology. The research presented here is a first step towards filling that void.;The findings suggest that the contextual factors of privacy and security concerns and usefulness have a bigger impact upon attitude as compared to innate personality traits. In addition, while voluntariness appears to have no effect, control has a significant impact upon attitude as well as privacy and security concerns and usefulness. Based upon these results, implications for theory and practice are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented. It is hoped that this initial research spurs additional interest in examining consumer acceptability of biometrics in terms of both private and public sector applications;As such, a series of three studies were undertaken. The first study was a qualitative analysis that identified what avenues of exploration Canadian banks considered to be the most salient with respect to consumer perceptions of biometric authentication technology. This analysis consisted of semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts. The second study was also qualitative and asked consumers from across Canada what they perceived as potential benefits and concerns with biometric authentication technology being used to access their bank accounts. Based upon the results of these two studies, which were further informed by a review of technology adoption literature, a third quantitative study was carried out in which a proposed research model was tested. This model identified both contextual antecedents and innate traits that may influence consumer attitudes towards using biometrics to access their bank accounts via an automated teller machine (ATM). In addition, the aspects of control and voluntariness were manipulated, through the presentation of various scenarios, to examine their effects upon both attitude as well as the direct antecedents of privacy and security concerns and usefulness. The proposed model was assessed using structural equation modeling. In addition, ANOVAs and qualitative answers to open ended questions were examined to provide further insight as to what will enhance or impede consumer acceptance of biometric technology.