To use or not to use ad blockers? The roles of knowledge of ad blockers and attitude toward online advertising

The rapid spread of ad blockers potentially threatens the sustainability of the hitherto dominant business model of ad-supported websites, in which users get web content free in return for allowing themselves to be exposed to advertising. Focusing on the users’ perspective, this study proposes that (a) adoption of ad blockers is positively influenced by the level of knowledge of their advantageous features; (b) the decision to continue using ad blockers is negatively affected by attitude toward online advertising; and (c) this attitude is positively shaped by perceptions of online advertising’s pleasure, credibility, and economic benefits, as well as negatively shaped by perceptions of online advertising’s intrusiveness and clutter. We tested these relationships in a survey study among the members of an online panel supported by the Spanish advertising industry, and all the relationships were confirmed within a structural equation model. Our findings provide some implications for online advertising stakeholders. Web publishers and online advertisers may expect that, in the coming years, ad blockers will continue to spread rapidly as a consequence of the extension of their knowledge among Internet users. These stakeholders are thus advised to focus on improving Internet users’ experiences with online advertising by reducing those ad characteristics that provoke negative reactions and by strengthening those that are positively evaluated.     

Beyond the privacy paradox: The moderating effect of online privacy concerns on online service use behavior

In the digital information era, dealing with privacy issues is problematic in related research since online activities have become an inevitable trend. Following the privacy paradox, which occurs when online services are increasingly accepted or used despite raising the level of privacy concerns of individuals, there is no need to alleviate individual privacy concerns regarding online services. Accordingly, this study aims to empirically analyze the effect of online privacy concerns, when interacting with individual innovativeness, on individual online service use behavior. For the empirical analysis, a Heckman two-step analysis is performed using South Korean data from the 2019 Korea Media Panel Survey conducted by the Korea Information Society Development Institute. The results provide evidence in contradiction of the privacy paradox. Specifically, the main findings of this study are as follows. First, use of online services and privacy concerns are not a contradictory phenomenon both in principle and behavior but can act as a negative influence or constraint. Second, individuals with high levels of innovativeness actively use online services owing to differences in their acceptance and use of innovation. Third, as online activities become more common, privacy concerns are likely to affect the level of online service use by interacting with other personality traits. As a result, privacy concerns are more likely to act as an influencing variable that moderates the degree or intensity of an individual's use of an online service rather than an independent variable for the use of an online service. The impact of privacy concerns of individuals on the use of online services identified in this study suggests there is a need for an adequate governing mechanism for privacy protection to realize service provision through e-government.     

Internet and Online Information Privacy: An Exploratory Study of Preteens and Early Teens

Information security and privacy on the internet are critical issues in our society. In this research, we examine factors that influence internet users' private-information-sharing behavior. Based on a survey of 285 preteens and early teens, who are among the most vulnerable groups on the web, this study provides a research framework that explains an internet user's information privacy protection behavior. According to our study results, internet users' information privacy behaviors are affected by two significant factors: (1) users' perceived importance of information privacy and (2) information privacy self-efficacy. The study also found that users believe in the value of online information privacy and that information privacy protection behavior varies by gender. Our findings indicate that educational opportunities regarding internet privacy and computer security as well as concerns from other reference groups (e.g., peer, teacher, and parents) play an important role in positively affecting the internet users' protective behavior regarding online privacy.      

Instagram versus Snapchat: Self-expression and privacy concern on social media

With the increasing popularity of image-based social networking applications (apps), such as Snapchat and Instagram, social media users express multifaceted aspects of their self-concept online, while remaining concerned about privacy issues. This study investigates the determinants behind the choice to use a social networking site (SNS) platform and predicts that the type of self an individual wants to express through the platform and their level of privacy concerns will play an important role in this choice. A total of 547 SNS users completed an online survey. Expression of multiple aspects of the self – true, actual, and ideal self – and online privacy concerns were empirically tested as the key determinants of SNS platform choice. The findings show that the expression of true and actual self are significant determinants for using Snapchat as a primary SNS, whereas the expression of ideal self and greater privacy concerns are associated with active Instagram use. The authors discuss the implications of these findings and recommend future research.     

The paradox of technology innovativeness and risk perceptions – A profile of Asian smartphone users

Risk perceptions and technology innovativeness are the two primary factors related to the adoption of mobile technologies. The current study examines the role of technology innovativeness and risk perceptions on smartphone use and dependence in an Asian context. A total of 9086 participants were recruited through online surveys from ten Asian countries. Ordinary least squares regression analyses revealed the effects of technology innovativeness, information security, privacy concern, and their interactions on smartphone use and dependence. Moreover, based on users’ smartphone usage patterns and perceptions, this paper identified four homogeneous groups using cluster analysis. Results shows that Asian smartphone users can be segmented into four groups: innovators, conservatives, moderators, and laggards. The four clusters show significant differences in demographic features. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on these findings.     

Online Privacy Concerns and Privacy Management: A Meta-Analytical Review

This meta-analysis investigates privacy concerns and literacy as predictors of use of online services and social network sites (SNSs), sharing information, and adoption of privacy protective measures. A total of 166 studies from 34 countries (n = 75,269) were included in the analysis. In line with the premise of privacy paradox, privacy concerns did not predict SNS use. However, users concerned about privacy were less likely to use online services and share information and were more likely to utilize privacy protective measures. Except for information sharing, the relationships were comparable for intentions and behavior. Analyses also confirm the role that privacy literacy plays in enhancing use of privacy protective measures. The findings can be generalized across gender, cultural orientation, and national legal systems.     

Determinants of the intention to use Buy-Online,Pickup In-Store (BOPS): The moderating effects of situational factors and product type

Despite the wider introduction of the buy online and pick up in-store (BOPS) service by retailers, research on BOPS is still sparse, especially those from the consumer perspective. This paper employs the scenario-based factorial survey method to investigate how the perceived characteristics of innovation and the perceived risk of online shopping influence the consumers’ intention to use BOPS while also considering the moderating effects of situational factors (location convenience) and product type (involvement). Our findings indicated that the consumer perceptions of relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and risks involved in online shopping are important antecedents to intention to use BOPS, and that these relationships were significantly moderated by locational convenience and product involvement. The implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed in detail.     

“Who's reading my e-mail?”: a study of professionals'e-mail usage and privacy perceptions in the workplace

E-mail privacy in the workplace has emerged as one of the most complex ethical and legal issues confronting corporate communication in the electronic age. The paper discusses the array of legal and ethical concerns of e-mail privacy in the workplace. Building on the existing body of knowledge on the topic, the results of a research study are presented which explore the similarities and differences in e-mail usage and privacy perceptions among management level and administrative level employees. The survey, which polled 337 working professionals, confirmed the popular belief that companies are not effectively communicating their e-mail monitoring policies to their employees. Finally, recommendations are made to corporate communicators on how best to forge an e-mail communications policy that can reduce the risk of disputes, incidents, and lawsuits regarding e-mail privacy issues     

社交媒体中“隐私悖论”解构:基于隐私态度与隐私行为的实证研究

随着网络社交媒体的普及，用户数据隐私披露和保护之间的矛盾日益凸显，这种现象被称为隐私悖论。文中以大学生在社交媒体中的隐私关注情况为研究对象，通过对隐私态度、隐私行为、感知风险和隐私悖论之间关系的研究，认为大学生用户对网络社交平台的信任感较高，导致隐私感知风险较低。为了更好地保护用户数据隐私，文中从国家、平台和个人3个层面提出了对策建议。     

An experimental study on the effect of ad placement,product involvement and motives on Facebook ad avoidance

Facebook users do not visit the social networking site to see advertising. They are either just surfing the platform or searching for information. Therefore, advertising content is vulnerable to ad avoidance. In this study, the effect of two Facebook ad placements, sidebar ads and message stream ads, on ad avoidance intention was investigated through an online experiment. Sidebar placements are put next to the content stream, while message stream advertising is interwoven with the original Facebook content. 253 Respondents (M_age?=?39.4, SD?=?8.7, 50.2% female) were given either a searching or surfing task. The intention of respondents to avoid ads placed in the message stream was significantly higher than to avoid ads placed in the sidebar. Through multiple moderation analysis, we found that Facebook motivations and product involvement were significant moderators of the effect of ad placement on ad avoidance intent. Our results point to the crucial role of the degree of product involvement when targeting Facebook ads to the right audience and choosing the appropriate ad placement. We discussed implications for research and the professional field.     

Improving user content privacy on social networks using rights management systems

Currently, millions and millions of users are using online social networks to share their thoughts, experiences and content with online friends. Documents, videos, music and pictures are shared online, relying on the privacy and security controls offered by the social network platforms, with little control from the end user. This creates serious privacy concerns, since the control over the content shared online on the social network is out of the hands of the user. In this paper, the authors propose an approach for content privacy shared on social networks that is user-centric and not based on the social network platform. In order to achieve that, an architecture based on a rights management platform capable of enforcing the necessary security and privacy mechanisms that extend the original controls provided by the social network platform will be presented. That way, users will be able to control their privacy settings and protect their own content, even when they are no longer part of the social network (suspending or deleting its account).     

User adaptation to interactive advertising formats: The effect of previous exposure,habit and time urgency on ad skipping behaviors

Due to commercial information loss of efficacy, social media advertising introduced skippable formats as an interactive function to attract customers. This empowerment of users could also favor the development of their skills and strategies to deal with online advertising, which may result in a lower advertising effectiveness. A study with 286 YouTube users was carried out to investigate this adaptation process to an advertising format by focusing on pre-roll skippable video ads. In contrast to advertisers’ approach (e.g. improving the persuasiveness of the ad), our research deepens on the ad skipping phenomenon from a human and context based perspective. In favor of an ad avoidance training effect, the findings show that participants previously exposed to a skippable ad are faster in taking the decision to watch or skip a subsequent ad. Participants’ skipping habits and time urgency are also revealed as main determinants of different ad skipping behaviors. This innovative research provides empirical support for the adaptation process leading people’s interrelation with interactive advertising formats. Practical and theoretical consequences are discussed for advancing on this underexplored topic.     

Emotion,Motivation, and the Persuasive Effects of Message Framing

This study explored the effects of premessage emotions (happiness, anger, and fear) and chronic levels of motivational system activation (behavioral approach system: BAS, and behavioral inhibition system: BIS) on the processing of gain‐ and loss‐framed persuasive messages. The data showed that emotion functions (approach and avoidance), not valences (positive and negative), predicted emotions' interactions with motivational systems and framed messages. While fear was associated with BIS, happiness and anger were linked to BAS. Also, while a loss frame was more persuasive among fearful individuals, a gain frame produced more persuasion for happy and angry participants. BAS mediated persuasion when angry and happy participants read a gain frame; BIS mediated persuasion among fearful individuals who attended to a loss frame.     

Privacy‐preserving authentication protocols with efficient verification in VANETs

As an important component of intelligent transportation systems, vehicular ad hoc networks can provide safer and more comfortable driving circumstance for the drivers. However, communication security and privacy issues present practical concerns to the deployment of vehicular ad hoc networks. Although recent related studies have already addressed most of these issues, most of them have only considered a posteriori countermeasures or a priori countermeasures to prevent the attacks of an adversary. To the best of our knowledge, up to now, only two privacy‐preserving authentication schemes can provide a posteriori countermeasures and a priori countermeasures. But, the computational cost of verifying a signature is relatively high or security proof of the scheme is loose in the two schemes. In this paper, we propose two novel privacy‐preserving authentication schemes. The first one cannot only provide a posteriori and a priori countermeasures, but also has low computational cost in the verification phase and tight security proof. The second one can achieve batch verification on multiple messages. Comparison with Wu et al.'s scheme and Chen et al's scheme, our scheme shows higher efficiency in terms of the computational cost of verifying signature.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beating the News Blues: Mood Repair Through Exposure to Advertising

This paper explores mood regulation in advertising. In Experiment 1, participants made sad by previous media content experienced greater mood enhancement from exposure to a pleasant product advertisement than those made happy. Sad participants were also more likely to attribute their mood change to how they liked the ad and the product. In Experiment 2, exposure to a positively framed antismoking ad reduced negative mood more than exposure to a negatively framed ad. This was true, however, only for sad participants and not for happy and neutral participants, who were presumably less motivated to repair mood. In addition, exposure to the positively framed ad encouraged sad participants, but not happy or neutral participants, to attribute higher risks to smoking and express stronger antismoking attitudes than did exposure to the negatively framed ad.     

Using a serious game to communicate risk and minimize psychological distance regarding environmental pollution

Persuading individuals to engage in pro-environmental behavior is challenging. Interactive media, such as virtual environments and video games, present opportunities to minimize psychological distance and bolster perceived risks associated with environmental threats. In this experiment, we tested the effects of a serious game that allowed users to engage in environmental cleanup. In the virtual environment, participants (N = 190) navigated down a polluted river that was described as geographically and temporally close or distant. The affordance of interactivity, specifically contingency, was also manipulated. Results revealed that feeling psychologically close to the environment led to greater risk perception, which in turn led to more environmental behavior and greater support for environmental policy in the days following the experiment. In terms of interactivity, higher perceptions of contingency led to greater self-efficacy, which also led to more environmental behavior and greater support for environmental policy after the experiment. We discuss implications for environmental communication, science communication, and other prosocial persuasion efforts using interactive media such as serious games and virtual reality.     

Migration stress,risky Internet uses,and scam victimization: An empirical study among Chinese migrant workers

In China, Internet scams against migrant workers have grown increasingly prevalent. This study uses routine activity theory and uses and gratifications theory to investigate how migration stress affects susceptibility to risky internet use and scam-related outcomes among Chinese migrant workers. The present study utilized a survey of 543 migrant workers. Findings revealed that migration stress was a significant predictor of engaging in risky online leisure activities, risky online shopping, privacy disclosure, and a lack of protective measures. The failure to adopt protective behaviors and engagement in risky online leisure activities, online loaning, and privacy disclosure were also found to increase migrant workers’ exposure to scam information and victimization. Study results sheds light on the impact of migration stress on the online behavior of migrant workers in China and provides insights into protecting them from Internet scams. Our findings may inform the development of interventions aimed at preventing online scams against migrant workers and promoting safer Internet use.     

Compliance to personal data protection principles: A study of how organizations frame privacy policy notices

This study examines how organizations in Malaysia frame their privacy policy notice to comply with the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA, 2010) and if these organizations differ in their level of compliance and the readability of their privacy notices. We collected the online privacy polices of 306 organizations from 12 sectors to assess their readability and compliance with PDPA requirements. The results show that private-owned organizations have higher compliance level compared to public-owned organizations. Sectors that hold more personal sensitive data obtain higher compliance scores. Non-governmental organizations demonstrate higher compliance level compared to government-owned organizations. Despite differences in the compliance scores, most organizations fail to meet the requirements of the PDPA. Our study also reveals that readability has a negative correlation with the compliance score because simple and shorter version of the privacy policies often lack detailed information. Our findings provide valuable insights into organizations’ privacy policy compliance across different sectors in Malaysia. Specifically, the Malaysian authority should implement more effective mechanisms to enforce the compliance of the PDPA. Organizations should also take corrective actions to improve the compliance scores of their online privacy policies.     

Coping with fear and guilt using mobile social networking applications: Knowledge hiding,loafing, and sharing

Mobile social networking applications (MSNAs) are readily attractive for supporting interactions and collaborations between people in a variety of mobile environments due to their low-cost and ubiquity. Departing from existing research, this study focuses on the influence of negative emotions in the context of MSNA use. Integrating theories of coping, regulatory focus, and guilt, this study proposes a research model to explore how people cope with fear (self-referenced fear and other-referenced fear) and guilt using three coping strategies (knowledge sharing, hiding, and knowledge contribution loafing) in the context of MSNAs. Also involved are two moderators (promotion-focused and prevention-focused) that exhibit different tendencies in strategy choices, thus generating a varying of behavioral results when tackling fear and guilt. Data collected from 496 members of LINE groups support most of our proposed model, which conjectures the differential effects of self-referenced fear, other-referenced fear, and guilt on coping strategies in terms of regulatory focus. Notably, this study is among the very first to explore the concerns and affects of fear and guilt in the context of using MSNAs, with rich theoretical and practical implications.     

Sponsorship Disclosure: Effects of Duration on Persuasion Knowledge and Brand Responses

This study examined how sponsorship disclosure on television influences persuasion knowledge and brand responses (i.e., brand memory and brand attitude). Moreover, we tested whether extending disclosure duration increases its effect. By conducting an experiment (N = 116) we compared the effects of no disclosure to a 3‐second and a 6‐second disclosure. Results showed that especially a 6‐second disclosure activates conceptual and consequently attitudinal persuasion knowledge. Regarding brand responses, we found that disclosure directly increased brand memory, regardless of duration. In addition, a 6‐second disclosure indirectly resulted in less favorable brand attitudes through higher rates of attitudinal persuasion knowledge. Theoretically, this study provides insights into how sponsorship disclosure influences the persuasion process and the role of persuasion knowledge within this process.