Internet Users' Information Privacy-Protective Responses: A Taxonomy and a Nomological Model

Abstract

Although Internet users are expected to respond in various ways to privacy threats from online companies, little attention has been paid so far to the complex nature of how users respond to these threats. This paper has two specific goals in its effort to fill this gap in the literature. The first, so that these outcomes can be systematically investigated, is to develop a taxonomy of information privacy-protective responses (IPPR). This taxonomy consists of six types of behavioral responses-refusal, misrepresentation, removal, negative word-of-mouth, complaining directly to online companies, and complaining indirectly to third-party organizations-1 Bernard C. Y. Tan was the accepting senior editor for this paper. Jeff Smith was the associate editor. Norm Chervany, Bradley Alge, and May Lwin served as reviewers. that are classified into three categories: information provision, private action, and public action. Our second goal is to develop a nomological model with several salient antecedents-concerns for information privacy, perceived justice, and societal benefits from complaining-of IPPR, and to show how the antecedents differentially affect the six types of IPPR. The nomological model is tested with data collected from 523 Internet users. The results indicate that some discernible patterns emerge in the relationships between the antecedents and the three groups of IPPR. These patterns enable researchers to better understand why a certain type of IPPR is similar to or distinct from other types of IPPR. Such an understanding could enable researchers to analyze a variety of behavioral responses to information privacy threats in a fairly systematic manner. Overall, this paper contributes to researchers' theory-building efforts in the area of information privacy by breaking new ground for the study of individuals' responses to information privacy threats.

Privacy-Friendly Business Models for Location-Based Mobile Services

“…We argue that previous research focuses only on user choice to either withhold or release personal information. This decision is one component of user payoff, which we consider as "the degree to which a mobile user perceives as fair the benefits he or she receives in return for the release of personal information" [41] if user's payoff is not assured, data security is in peril [2].…”

The Influence of Intention to Use the Mobile Banking - The Privacy Mechanism Perspective

“…Increasingly, digital and networked society has new challenges with personal information privacy (Angst and Agarwal 2009;Malhotra et al 2004).Commercial websites seeking personal information online should disclose the way the data are collected, processed, and used (Hong and Thong, 2013).Firms use technologies such as customer relationship management to launch individually targeted marketing programs, and their information practice may conflict with the information privacy rights of customers (Son and Kim, 2008). Many Internet users are expected to adopt certain forms of behavior to protect information privacy.…”

The effects of general privacy concerns and transactional privacy concerns on Facebook apps usage

“…For example, found that individuals were more willing to self-disclose in online transactions when their general interests in the content surpassed general Internet privacy concerns. Likewise, Son and Kim (2008) noted that general privacy concerns might motivate privacy-protective responses, which could manifest in several behaviours, such as negative word-of-mouth, complaints to peers, and report to third parties.…”

“…First, past Information System (IS) research has substantially advanced our understanding of information privacy (e.g., Bélanger and Crossler 2011;Jiang et al 2013;Smith et al 2011). While IS literature has explored several aspects of information privacy, its primary focus has been on issues triggered by personal information collection (e.g., Malhotra et al 2004;Son and Kim 2008). As a result, to the best of our knowledge, there is limited research done to elucidate privacy issues associated with an extended scope of information collection.…”

“…For example, Son and Kim (2008) revealed that online consumers typically reduced disclosure of personal information to protect privacy. Likewise, Hui et al (2007) reported that individuals did not only exercise exposure control by limiting disclosure but also reveal falsified information to protect their privacy in an information transaction.…”