How Subjective Norms Relate to Personal Privacy Regulation in Social Media: A Cross-National Approach

Abstract

The growing body of research on privacy documents cross-cultural differences in the way people manage their privacy in social media. Yet, cultural values do not provide a consistent account for these differences. Drawing on communication privacy management theory, this work argues that different governmental approaches of privacy regulation shape users' subjective norms in the form of perceived rules about how to manage personal and collective boundaries. These subjective privacy norms may better explain cross-national differences in people's online privacy behavior. We conducted a survey (N = 1,060) among Facebook users in two countries in which privacy regulation policies vary significantly: the United States and Germany. While US users self-disclose more than German users do, they also take more measures to protect their privacy on Facebook. US users perceive stronger norms to protect themselves than German users. These findings inform communication privacy management theory and the influence of privacy rules within and across national borders.