Impact of Perceived Benefits and Risks on Face Swap Applications Usage Intentions

Face-swap apps bring various benefits and incur risks for app users. The face swap apps are enjoyful for most users but the disclosure of personal information when using these apps is associated with an increase in threats such as identity theft, personal information leaks, and fraud. This research aims to integrate the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine the influence of face swap app benefits and Perceived risks on face swap app usage intention. The research is conducted through an online/offline survey of 289 participants from different demographics in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling is applied to investigate the relationships between the variables. This study recognizes the negative impact of potential deepfake risks associated with the usage of face-swap applications. The results demonstrate that elevated Privacy Risk, Information Manipulation and Security Risk Perceptions result in a decreased intention to use face-swapping applications (standardized β = −.135; −.125; −.163, respectively), whereas Entertainment level, Ease of use, Social Influence substantially encourage user engagement with these applications (standardized β = .305; .280; .248, respectively). This study employs a comprehensive theoretical model that combine PMT and TAM to investigate the effects of perceived benefits and risk dimensions on face-swap apps usage intention. This study has practical implications for AI app and social media developers by offering deeper insights into the factors that attract or discourage face-swap users.