Facilitating Consumer Acceptance of RFID and Related Ubiquitous Technologies

The issue of consumer acceptance in the implementation of RFID and related ubiquitous technologies, driven primarily by privacy concerns, is a complex social problem involving consumers, companies, advocacy groups and government agencies – each of whom has different and often incompatible goals. This research decomposes the problem and explores it from the perspective of one of these stakeholders, that is, a company seeking to implement RFID in order to achieve specific business objectives. The authors establish a theoretical framework, based on social justice theory in business ethics that identifies the factors contributing to consumer and societal resistance to an RFID implementation. Within this framework, they outline the technical and managerial elements of an implementation plan, and relate those elements to the underlying components of social justice theory. The result is a strategy for technology managers that 1) considers the complex mix of consumer, societal and governmental concerns hindering adoption of the technologies, and 2) indicates areas of potential compromise.