A matter of child monitoring: a multistage analysis examining factors influencing parent use behavior of parental control apps

Introduction: The adoption and acceptance of parental control apps (PCAs) are threatened by many factors, even though mobile applications are at the forefront of mobile computing technologies. Existing studies indicate that PCA adoption can be improved by understanding users' behavioral intention and mindsets. Several adoption studies show that task features are among the most influential factors influencing users' perceptions of mobile applications. The role of PCA features, such as digital etiquette, cyberbullying, child tracking, and family values, remains largely unexamined in current research. Methods: Thus, by using task-technology fit (TTF) theory, this study examines how task-technology features and characteristics affect the behavioral intention of parents toward PCA adoption within the context of Saudi Arabia. To empirically test the proposed theoretical model, data were collected from 388 parents in Saudi Arabia. A multistage analysis, which consists of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), partial least squares prediction algorithms (PLS-predict), and artificial neural networks (ANN), was employed to examine the outcome of PCA behavioral adoption. Results: The results demonstrate that digital etiquette, cyberbullying, family values, and parental mediation significantly and positively influence TTF, whereas mobility, child tracking, and inappropriate online content do not have a significant impact. Furthermore, TTF was found to be a significant predictor of parents' behavioral intention toward PCA adoption. These findings can be utilized to enhance the design of PCAs and thus the user experience for both parents and children. Moreover, this study extends and contributes to the understanding of task features in the context of PCAs through the TTF model.