Research On Public Usage Intention And Behavior In Contact Tracing Technology From A Digital Governance Perspective

Contact tracing has been used by public health authorities on many occasions for infectious disease control and public health interventions,particularly during COVID-19,when many countries and regions introduced contact tracing technology to prevent and control outbreaks.As a typical method of digital governance,the use of contact tracing technology is not limited to a single scenario of outbreak control,but in the normalisation phase of epidemic prevention and control,it has also generated many extended applications,which have been optimised and upgraded,and are constantly embedded in people’s work and life to bring greater value.The effectiveness of contact tracing technology depends on its widespread use by the public.However,not everyone is willing to use contact tracing technology and develop actual usage behaviour.Therefore,it is necessary to identify the factors that influence the public’s usage intention and behaviour of contact tracing technology in order to increase the use rate of contact tracing technology.After reviewed domestic and foreign scholars’ research on contact tracing technology,public technology acceptance and usage behavior,and digital governance systematically,this paper constructed a theoretical analysis framework of public usage behavior of contact tracing technology under the guidance of digital governance theory and UTAUT,then proposed a conceptual model and formed research hypotheses based on theoretical analysis framework,and finally conducted the empirical analysis and discussion to provide reference for the promotion of contact tracing technology.The main findings of this paper are as follows.（1）In terms of the theoretical analysis framework of the public use behavior of contact tracing technology,this paper analyzed the ability of participators in digital governance after literature review,then at the public level,UTAUT model was introduced to propose theoretical analysis framework for public usage behavior of contact tracing technology based on the perspective of digital governance.In this paper,the UTAUT was improved from the dimensions of digital trust and technostress,which provided the basis for the empirical study later.（2）In terms of the empirical analysis of public intention and behavior to use contact tracing technology,public intention to use contact tracing technology had a significant positive impact on usage behavior,the public’s performance expectation,effort expectation,social influence as well as facilitating conditions had a significant positive impact on the intention to use contact tracing technology.Furthermore,the public’s technology trust on contact tracing technology and government trust had a significant positive influence on the usage intention,the public’s technology dependence has a significant positive influence on technostress,the mediating effects of usage intention on the relationship between performance expectancy,effort expectancy,social influence,facilitating condition,technology trust,government trust and usage behavior were all verified.In contrast,the effect of technostress on usage intention was not significant,and the mediating effect of technostress on the relationship between technology dependence and usage intention and the mediating effect of usage intention in the relationship between technostress and usage behavior were unproven.Future research should draw on theories from interdisciplinary disciplines and combine research perspectives to develop more theories of contact tracing technology acceptance and use to support relevant scientific research.It should also continue to focus on the public use of contact tracing technologies in different time and space and different scenarios,discover the characteristics of contact tracing used in different cultural contexts and regular scenarios,it will provide a research basis for promoting digital governance,and improve the effectiveness of contact tracing technologies and similar digital technologies through practical applications and feedback.