COVID-19 has been deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, claimed that "This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector". And so it was, within a short time the cases increased rapidly, spreading from person to person in communities all over the world. In the absence of vaccines, the majority of national governments implemented (among others) highly restrictive and disruptive non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as national lockdowns or the closure of non-essential economic and manufacturing activities, as the only rapid solutions to slow down the growth of infections. However, these sometimes highly invasive interventions have caused a substantial economic and social cost, affecting citizens' habits, mental health and social security (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020; Pfefferbaum & North, 2020). Among the solutions to tackle the fast spreading pandemic there are contact-tracing applications. The purpose of this thesis is to empirically investigate which are the drivers that influence the intention to adopt the Italian contact tracing application Immuni leveraging on a comprehensive literature review. Since traditional research frameworks present significant limitations in investigating the case of contact tracing, the study is based in part on models such as the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) or the Health belief model (HBM) and partially on enhanced models identified in the literature. Quantitative research was conducted on data collected through an online questionnaire (N=11537). Logistic regression results indicate that Performance expectancy, Attitude towards innovation, Social influence, Perceived severity of the disease, Trust in institutions and Behavioral modifications significantly affect Italian citizens' intention to download the app. The study aims to contribute to the research on the acceptance of mobile contact tracing by providing theoretical evidence and practical input to the institutions in charge of promoting the app in Italy.
L'11 marzo 2020, l'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS) ha dichiarato la COVID-19 una pandemia. Il dottor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, direttore generale dell'OMS, ha affermato che "Questa non è solo una crisi di salute pubblica, è una crisi che toccherà ogni settore". E così è stato, in poco tempo i casi sono aumentati rapidamente, diffondendosi da persona a persona nelle comunità di tutto il mondo. In assenza di vaccini, la maggior parte dei governi nazionali ha attuato (tra gli altri) interventi non farmaceutici (NPIs) altamente restrittivi e dirompenti, come il blocco nazionale o la chiusura di attività economiche e produttive non essenziali, in quanto uniche soluzioni rapide per rallentare la crescita delle infezioni. Tuttavia, questi interventi molto invasivi, hanno causato un costo economico e sociale notevole, colpendo le abitudini dei cittadini, la salute mentale e la sicurezza sociale (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020; Pfefferbaum & North, 2020). Tra le soluzioni per affrontare la rapida diffusione della pandemia possiamo trovare anche applicazioni di contact tracing. L’obiettivo di questa tesi è quello di indagare empiricamente quali sono i driver che influenzano l'intenzione di adottare l'applicazione italiana di contact tracing Immuni facendo leva su una revisione approfondita della letteratura. Poiché i tradizionali framework di ricerca presentano notevoli limiti nell'indagare il caso del contact tracing, lo studio si basa in parte su modelli come la Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) o l'Health belief model (HBM) e in parte su modelli potenziati identificati in letteratura. La ricerca quantitativa è stata condotta sui dati raccolti attraverso un questionario online (N=11537). I risultati della regressione logistica indicano che l'aspettativa di performance, l'attitudine all'innovazione, l'influenza sociale, la gravità percepita della malattia, la fiducia nelle istituzioni e le modifiche comportamentali influenzano significativamente l'intenzione dei cittadini italiani di scaricare l'app. Lo studio si propone di contribuire alla ricerca sull'accettazione del mobile contact tracing fornendo evidenze teoriche e input pratici alle istituzioni incaricate di promuovere l'app in Italia.
Indagine sull'adozione della tecnologia di contact-tracing durante la pandemia di COVID-19: il caso italiano "Immuni"
MASOERO, STEFANO
2020/2021
Abstract
COVID-19 has been deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, claimed that "This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector". And so it was, within a short time the cases increased rapidly, spreading from person to person in communities all over the world. In the absence of vaccines, the majority of national governments implemented (among others) highly restrictive and disruptive non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as national lockdowns or the closure of non-essential economic and manufacturing activities, as the only rapid solutions to slow down the growth of infections. However, these sometimes highly invasive interventions have caused a substantial economic and social cost, affecting citizens' habits, mental health and social security (Chakraborty & Maity, 2020; Pfefferbaum & North, 2020). Among the solutions to tackle the fast spreading pandemic there are contact-tracing applications. The purpose of this thesis is to empirically investigate which are the drivers that influence the intention to adopt the Italian contact tracing application Immuni leveraging on a comprehensive literature review. Since traditional research frameworks present significant limitations in investigating the case of contact tracing, the study is based in part on models such as the Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) or the Health belief model (HBM) and partially on enhanced models identified in the literature. Quantitative research was conducted on data collected through an online questionnaire (N=11537). Logistic regression results indicate that Performance expectancy, Attitude towards innovation, Social influence, Perceived severity of the disease, Trust in institutions and Behavioral modifications significantly affect Italian citizens' intention to download the app. The study aims to contribute to the research on the acceptance of mobile contact tracing by providing theoretical evidence and practical input to the institutions in charge of promoting the app in Italy.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
Per maggiori informazioni e per verifiche sull'eventuale disponibilità del file scrivere a: unitesi@unipv.it.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/1373