Solving the privacy paradox: A counter-argument experimental approach

This study investigates why ordinary online users highly concerned about the misuse of personal information do not adopt privacy-protective behaviors, or even engage in risky behaviors, on the Internet. Given that people have few chances to directly experience privacy infringement and tend to be unfamiliar with technical terms, their opinions as reflected in conventional polls tend to be instantaneous reactions to survey questionnaires, lacking thoughtfulness. By adopting a counterargument experimental technique, this study produced three important findings: (1) people’s opinions about online privacy are swayed after being presented with a message containing a counterargument; (2) this persuasion effect is pronounced among people with a low level of online knowledge or who assess the presented message’s argument as strong; and (3) the privacy paradox is found in conventional polls but disappears in counterargument conditions. These findings imply that opinions concerning online privacy should not be estimated through conventional polling. Rather, alternative polls (e.g., deliberative polls) should be adopted for online privacy policy-making.     

Health information privacy concerns,antecedents, and information disclosure intention in online health communities

This study explores the antecedents and consequences of health information privacy concerns in online health communities by integrating the dual calculus and protection motivation theories. On the basis of survey data from 337 users, health information privacy concerns, together with informational and emotional support, significantly influence personal health information (PHI) disclosure intention. Privacy concerns are negatively influenced by two coping appraisals (i.e., response efficacy and self-efficacy) and positively affected by two threat appraisals (i.e., perceived vulnerability and perceived severity). The perceived health status differentially moderates the effects of privacy concerns and informational support on the PHI disclosure intention.     

Exploring privacy paradox in information-sensitive mobile app adoption: A cross-cultural comparison

This paper proposes and tests a conceptual model of private-information sensitive mobile app adoption utilizing privacy calculus approach. It also explores the role of personality in affecting perceived benefits of using mobile apps and compares the findings across two countries: the US and China. Irrespective of the cultural environment, millennial mobile app users download apps that require access to sensitive personal information in order to satisfy their informational and social (but not entertainment) needs. Perceived privacy concern does not influence adoption or future use of private-information sensitive apps. Extraversion and agreeableness are positively related to user perceptions of benefits obtained from using apps.     

Unfolding the privacy paradox among mobile social commerce users: a multi-mediation approach

Considering that privacy paradox is currently an underexplored research area, this study proposes a privacy paradox model to explain the reasons behind such phenomenon. Built upon the theoretical link of belief-intention-behaviour and the idea of multi-mediation, this study seeks to discover the relationship between concern for social media information privacy and usage intention, and the potential mediators that stand between such linkage. The results suggest that perceived mobility and social support do mediate the said linkage, and the model could reasonably explain usage intention, which surprisingly has a negative association with usage behaviour. Theoretical and practical implications are subsequently offered.     

Internet social network communities: Risk taking,trust, and privacy concerns

Individuals communicate and form relationships through Internet social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. We study risk taking, trust, and privacy concerns with regard to social networking websites among 205 college students using both reliable scales and behavior. Individuals with profiles on social networking websites have greater risk taking attitudes than those who do not; greater risk taking attitudes exist among men than women. Facebook has a greater sense of trust than MySpace. General privacy concerns and identity information disclosure concerns are of greater concern to women than men. Greater percentages of men than women display their phone numbers and home addresses on social networking websites. Social networking websites should inform potential users that risk taking and privacy concerns are potentially relevant and important concerns before individuals sign-up and create social networking websites.     

The personalization privacy paradox: An exploratory study of decision making process for location-aware marketing

Despite the vast opportunities offered by location-aware marketing (LAM), mobile customers' privacy concerns appear to be a major inhibiting factor in their acceptance of LAM. This study extends the privacy calculus model to explore the personalization-privacy paradox in LAM, with considerations of personal characteristics and two personalization approaches (covert and overt). Through an experimental study, we empirically validated the proposed model. Results suggest that the influences of personalization on the privacy risk/benefit beliefs vary upon the type of personalization systems (covert and overt), and that personal characteristics moderate the parameters and path structure of the privacy calculus model.     

Personalization–privacy paradox and consumer conflict with the use of location-based mobile commerce

This study empirically explored consumers’ response to the personalization–privacy paradox arising from the use of location-based mobile commerce (LBMC) and investigated the factors affecting consumers’ psychological and behavioral reactions to the paradox. A self-administered online consumer survey was conducted using a South Korean sample comprising those with experience using LBMC, and data from 517 respondents were analyzed. Using cluster analysis, consumers were categorized into four groups according to their responses regarding perceived personalization benefits and privacy risks: indifferent (n = 87), personalization oriented (n = 113), privacy oriented (n = 152), and ambivalent (n = 165). The results revealed significant differences across consumer groups in the antecedents and outcomes of the personalization–privacy paradox. Multiple regression analysis showed that factors influence the two outcome variables of the personalization–privacy paradox: internal conflict (psychological outcome) and continued use intention of LBMC (behavioral outcome). In conclusion, this study showed that consumer involvement, self-efficacy, and technology optimism significantly affected both outcome variables, whereas technology insecurity influenced internal conflict, and consumer trust influenced continued use intention. This study contributes to the current literature and provides practical implications for marketers and retailers aiming to succeed in the mobile commerce environment.     

Adolescents' privacy concerns and information disclosure online: The role of parents and the Internet

This study investigated the role of parents and the Internet in adolescents' online privacy concerns and information disclosing behaviors. Specifically, instructive and restrictive parental mediation, adolescents' self-disclosure to parents about their Internet experiences, time spent on the Internet, and participation in online communication activities were examined as factors that may impact adolescents' concerns about online privacy, willingness to disclose personally identifiable information, and actual disclosure of personal information online. A survey conducted in Singapore with 746 adolescents aged 12–18 revealed that instructive parental mediation based on parent-adolescent communication was more effective than restrictive parental mediation based on rule-making and controlling in reducing information disclosure among adolescents. Adolescents' self-disclosure to parents about their Internet experiences was found to be positively associated with their privacy concerns but did not foster privacy protection behaviors. While online chatting had a positive relationship with privacy concerns, excessive use of the Internet and frequent participation in social networking and online gaming resulted in increased information disclosure.     

Friend or not to friend: Coworker Facebook friend requests as an application of communication privacy management theory

Given that Facebook.com is a social networking tool used by a diverse audience, this study employs Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory as a framework to investigate how working professionals respond to co-worker Facebook friend requests. Overall, 312 individuals with full-time jobs and Facebook accounts completed an online survey. Results confirmed that most working professionals accepted co-worker Facebook friend requests. However, request decisions varied in conjunction with organizational privacy orientation, current Facebook privacy management practices, and co-worker communication satisfaction. Results confirm that working professionals’ Facebook linkage choices with other co-workers are best understood when embedded within a framework which provides a more complete understanding of the functioning of their privacy rules. Future research examining working professionals’ social media privacy management practices when individual privacy norms contradict organizational privacy norms is discussed.     

The mediator role of self-disclosure and moderator roles of gender and social anxiety in the relationship between Chinese adolescents’ online communication and their real-world social relationships

Based on theory and previous research, we examined relationships among gender, social anxiety, self-disclosure, quality of real-world friendships and online communication by Chinese adolescent Internet users. Results indicated that online communication and self-disclosure are not related to quality of friendship, and online communication is positively related to self-disclosure. For adolescent boys and adolescents with high social anxiety, online communication can explain more variance in users’ self-disclosure, indicating that gender and social anxiety moderate the relationship between online communication and online self-disclosure.     

Adolescents' response to parental Facebook friend requests: The comparative influence of privacy management,parent-child relational quality,attitude and peer influence

Smartphones greatly reduce parents' ability to monitor their children's online activities. A recommended surveillance technique is to ‘friend’ adolescents on social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook. However, adolescents use these sites to experiment with adjusting their self-image based on friends' feedback, so is it possible for them to simultaneously satisfy the very different expectations of both peers and parents? This study explores adolescents' attitudes to parental presence on Facebook using Communications Privacy Management theory (Petronio, 2002) as the theoretical framework to investigate the relative influence of privacy management, relational quality and peer pressure. The study was conducted among 262 secondary school children living at home and recruited via their schools. Results showed that while privacy management and peer influence were significantly related to adolescent attitudes to parental presence on Facebook, only attitude to parental presence on Facebook and parental-adolescent relational quality predicted friendship status. A picture emerged of adolescents very much in control of their SNS privacy who were largely indifferent to parents on Facebook. There was however, a sizable, peer-influenced minority, opposed to parental presence, for whom friendship may be counter-productive. While this study uncovered many unique associations relating to adolescent-parental Facebook friendship, further qualitative research is recommended to provide a deeper understanding of this complex subject.     

The Do Not Track Me Online laws: creating a ceiling when the sky's the limit and we are halfway to heaven

This comment examines a recent Wall Street Journal article discussing proposed plans of MasterCard or VISA to provide customers with targeted ads as they surf the Web using information attained by tracking customer purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. Since the online behavioral advertising industry is largely self-regulated, this raises concerns as to whether the companies amassing this information are giving customers adequate disclosure of their collection and dissemination practices and an opportunity to give sufficient informed consent. The lack of legislation specific to these practices, or regulatory oversight, has paved the way for organizations to race to discover increasingly intrusive ways of compiling consumer information. Finding a balance between an individual's right to privacy and commercial access to personal information represents the fundamental regulatory issue that needs to be resolved. The Do Not Track laws proposed by Representative Jackie Speier of California in February of 2011 represent a good start to creating this balance. This comment will examine the specific plans proposed by VISA and MasterCard, discuss the current regulatory status of online behavioral advertising, and conclude by arguing that the proposed Do Not Track laws provide the appropriate balance between consumer privacy protection and marketing needs.     

Online recreation: The relationship between loneliness,Internet self-efficacy and the use of the Internet for entertainment purposes

In this study, 150 undergraduates answered questions about their Internet usage and completed a loneliness and an Internet self-efficacy questionnaire. A factor analysis of the Internet usage items revealed three facets of online recreation, including, using the Internet for: computer-based entertainment, to facilitate offline entertainment, and for information about the entertainment world. Those who scored higher on loneliness were more likely to use the Internet for computer-based entertainment, as well as, use the Internet to obtain information about the entertainment world. Individuals higher in Internet self-efficacy were more likely to use the Internet for computer-based entertainment and to facilitate offline entertainment. Implications for the study of the psychological influences of the Internet are discussed in this paper.     

The interactions between problem solving and conceptual change: System dynamic modelling as a platform for learning

This study examines the interactions between problem solving and conceptual change in an elementary science class where students build system dynamic models as a form of problem representations. Through mostly qualitative findings, we illustrate the interplay of three emerging intervening conditions (epistemological belief, structural knowledge and domain knowledge), the choice of learning strategy and the learning outcomes through a theoretical model.