Exploring the effect of permission notice on users´ initial trust to an application store: The case of China´s Android application market

Privacy invasion via mobile applications is a big issue in the mobile age. This study focuses on China´s Android market where a few application stores are available to adopt applications. Recognizing that these stores vary in presenting permission notice, this study examines the effect of two features of a permission notice, i.e., permission sensitivity and permission explanation, on Android users´ privacy-related perceptions. Results of our scenario-based study suggest that while the disclosure of highly sensitive permissions increases users´ privacy concerns to an application, it also boosts users´ initial trust to an unfamiliar application store. Moreover, users´ trust to the application store is a necessary condition for the efficiency of permission explanation to reduce users´ privacy concerns. In addition to enhancing our theoretical understanding of the role of initial trust in Chinese Android users´ elaboration of permission notice, these findings have important implications for both China´s application stores and application developers.