Reputation, Risk, and Trust on User Adoption of Internet Search Engines: The Case of DuckDuckGo

This paper investigates the determinants of end-user adoption of the DuckDuckGo search engine coupling the standard UTAUT model with factors to reflect reputation, risk, and trust. An experimental approach was taken to validate our model, where participants were exposed to the DuckDuckGo product using a vignette. Subsequently, answering questions on their perception of the technology. The data was analyzed using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. From the nine distinct factors studied, we found that 'Performance Expectancy' played the greatest role in user decisions on adoption, followed by 'Firm Reputation', 'Initial Trust in Technology', 'Social Influence', and an individual's 'Disposition to Trust'. We conclude by exploring how these findings can explain DuckDuckGo's rising prominence as a search engine

Introduction

This chapter sets out the volume\u2019s rationale and structure. The book examines the mismatch between the EU\u2019s supply of policy in its Southern Neighbourhood and the demand for change by citizens in four countries\u2014Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia\u2014which have been at the forefront of the EU\u2019s Southern Neighbourhood policies and of the 2010\u201311 Arab Uprisings. The book presents an innovative pairing of EU policy and practice, matching Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on the one hand and quantitative public opinion data from surveys on the other. This approach allows the volume to map the mismatch between what citizens of Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs) want and what the EU is willing to give. Amongst other things, this mapping reveals how it has been possible for EU policy to remain entrenched in a failing framework and how such policy efforts contribute to the retrenchment rather than to resolution of the structural causes of the Arab Uprisings