The cii research group has three papers accepted for publication at the 34th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2026)

Paper #1

Authors: Philipp Danylak, Tobias Dehling, Ali Sunyaev

Title: PETs in Context: An Exploration of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies for Everyday Internet Use

Abstract: Social interactions are increasingly mediated by the internet, which results in severe privacy threats for internet users. One way to respond to such threats is the use of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), whose purpose it is to allow for better management of information flows in social computing systems like the internet. However, PETs are often designed from a technical perspective and, apart from usability concerns, poorly aligned with the privacy threats perceived by users in different contexts. This study addresses privacy management on the internet from a user-centered perspective to derive implications for PET design. We explore how internet-savvy users report to use PETs in everyday internet contexts with a qualitative research approach. The findings showcase how internet-savvy users select and use PETs and are consolidated in a process model. Finally, we synthesize three important design considerations: privacy harm-oriented PET selection, context-sensitive PET use, and informative PET evaluations.

Paper #2

Authors:  Shanshan Hu, Manuel Schmidt-Kraepelin, Scott Thiebes, Felix Pietsch, Zhongyun Zhou, Ali Sunyaev

Title: The Impact of Customising Anthropomorphic Conversational Agents on Users’ Trusting Beliefs

Abstract: As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become increasingly human-like, anthropomorphism offers a useful lens for understanding how users develop trust in such systems. Many of these systems allow users to customise their anthropomorphic features to foster personal relevance and trust building. However, little is known about how customisation influences users’ perceptions of these systems. Drawing on anthropomorphism theory, we conducted a 2×2 between-subjects online experiment with 254 participants to examine how allowing users to customise a conversational agent (CA) for stress management influences their trusting beliefs. The results show that, contrary to theoretical expectations, customisation strengthens rather than reduces users’ tendency to anthropomorphise the CA. Further analyses reveal that customisation enhances emotional attachment, which, together with perceived humanness, acts as a key mechanism influencing trusting beliefs. These findings extend our understanding of AI anthropomorphism by highlighting the psychological implications of granting users agency in the customisation process.

Paper #3

Authors: Salar Abaspur, Richard Guse, Ali Sunyaev

Title: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Organizational Routines in Healthcare: A Longitudinal Case Study

Abstract:

AI has the potential to reorder clinical work practices and take over tasks traditionally requiring human expertise. While recent evidence suggests that AI leads to a different trajectory of change in contrast to traditional information technologies, we currently lack empirical evidence on how AI affects the healthcare routines through which clinical work is organized. With this study, we aim to explore the trajectory of AI-induced organizational change by drawing on organizational routines as a theoretical lens. Based on the findings from an in-depth longitudinal case study in the radiology department of a university hospital in Germany, we uncover that AI leads to increased variance in routine performances. Our findings contribute to theory by revealing how AI impacts clinical workflow routines and further we extend IS research on AI in healthcare by describing three mechanisms through which radiologists resolve this variance during routine performances.