Online privacy notices are intended to promote consumer choice and reduce the risks of disclosing personal information online. However, these effects result only if consumers read and use the information contained in the notices. This study used an online survey of 2,468 U.S. adult Internet users to investigate why online consumers read privacy notices across a variety of situations. We found that reading is related to concern for privacy, positive perceptions about notice comprehension, and higher levels of trust in the notice. This suggests that effective privacy notices serve an important function in addressing risk issues related to e-commerce. We further found that reading privacy notices is only one element in an overall strategy consumers use to manage the risks of disclosing personal information online.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adkinson, W.F., Eisenach, J.A., & Lenard, T.M. (2002). Privacy Online: A Report on the Information Practices and Policies of Commercial Web Sites. Washington: Progress & Freedom Foundation. Retrieved June 29, 2003, from http://www.pff.org/publications/privacyonlinefinalael.pdf
2.
BagozziR.P.Marketing as ExchangeJournal of Marketing39197532–39October
3.
BalasubramanianS.K.ColeC.Consumers’ Search and Use of Nutrition Information: The Challenges and Promise of the Nutrition Labeling and Education ActJournal of Marketing6632002112–127
4.
BealesH.CraswellR.SalopS.C.The Efficient Regulation of Consumer InformationJournal of Law & Economics241981491–539December
5.
BettmanJ.R.Issues in Designing Consumer Information EnvironmentsJournal of Consumer Research21975169–177December
6.
BettmanJ.R.PayneJ.W.StaelinR.Cognitive Considerations in Designing Effective Labels for Presenting Risk InformationJournal of Public Policy and Marketing519861–28
7.
CaudillE.M.MurphyP.E.Consumer Online Privacy: Legal and Ethical IssuesJournal of Public Policy and Marketing19120007–19
8.
ColeC.A.GaethG.J.Cognitive and Age-related Differences in the Ability to Use Nutritional Information in a Complex EnvironmentJournal of Marketing Research371990175–184May
9.
CulnanM.J.ArmstrongP.K.Information Privacy Concerns, Procedural Fairness and Impersonal Trust: An Empirical InvestigationOrganization Science101999104–115January
10.
CulnanM.J.BiesR.J.Consumer Privacy: Balancing Economic and Justice ConsiderationsJournal of Social Issues5922003323–342
11.
Culnan, M.J., & Milberg, S.J. (1998). The Second Exchange: Managing Customer Information in Marketing Relationships. Georgetown University, Unpublished Working Paper.
12.
DerbyB.M.LevyA.S.Do Food Labels Work? Gauging the Effectiveness of Food Labels Pre- and Post-NLEABloomP.GundlachG.T.Handbook of Marketing and Society2001Sage Publications, IncThousand Oaks372–398
13.
DoneyP.CannonJ.P.An Examination of the Nature of Trust in Buyer-Seller RelationshipsJournal of Marketing612199735–61
14.
DommeyerC.J.GrossB.Consumer Knowledge, Awareness, and Use of Privacy Protection StrategiesJournal of Interactive Marketing172200334–51
15.
DowlingG.R.StaelinR.A Model of Perceived Risk and Intended Risk-Handling ActivityJournal of Consumer Research211994119–134June
16.
GefenD.KarahannaE.StraubD.W.Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated ModelMIS Quarterly271200351–90
17.
GlazerR.Marketing in an Information-Intensive Environment: Strategic Implications of Knowledge as an AssetJournal of Marketing5519911–19October
18.
HaddenS.G.Read the Label: Reducing Risk by Providing Information1986Westview PressBoulder, CO
Harris Interactive IncPrivacy On and Off the Internet: What Consumers Want2002Privacy and American BusinessHackensack
21.
Harris Interactive, Inc., & Westin, A.F. (1997). Commerce, Communication and Privacy Online. Hackensack: Privacy and American Business.
22.
Hochhauser, M. (2001). Lost in the Fine Print: Readability of Financial Privacy Notices, San Diego: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Retrieved from http://www.privacyrights.org
23.
HoffmanD.L.NovakT.P.PeraltaM.Building Consumer Trust OnlineCommunications of the ACM424199980–85
24.
IngeneC.A.HughesM.A.Risk Management by ConsumersShethJ.N.Research in Consumer Behavior11985JAI Press, IncGreenwich, CT103–158
25.
LauferR.S.WolfeM.Privacy as a Concept and a Social Issue: A Multidimensional Developmental TheoryJournal of Social Issues33197722–42
26.
LehtoM.R.MillerJ.M.Warnings: Fundamentals, Designs, and Evaluation Methodologies1986Fuller Technical PublicationsAnn Arbor, MI
27.
MazisM.B.MorrisL.A.ChannelWogalterM.S.DejoyD.M.LaugheryK.R.Warnings and Risk Communication1999Taylor & Francis, IncPhiladelphia99–121
28.
MilneG.R.Consumer Participation in Mailing Lists: A Field ExperimentJournal of Public Policy and Marketing161997298–309
29.
MilneG.R.BozaM.Trust and Concern in Consumers’ Perceptions of Marketing Information Management PracticesJournal of Interactive Marketing13119995–24
30.
MilneG.R.CulnanM.J.Using the Content of Online Privacy Notices to Inform Public Policy: A Longitudinal Analysis of the 1998–2001 U.S. Web SurveysThe Information Society1852002345–360
31.
MilneG.R.GordonM.E.Direct Mail Privacy-Efficiency Trade-Offs Within an Implied Social Contract FrameworkJournal of Public Policy and Marketing121993206–215Fall
32.
MiyazakiA.FerdnandezA.Internet Privacy and Security: An Examination of Online Retailer DisclosuresJournal of Public Policy and Marketing191200054–61
33.
MoormanC.The Effects of Stimulus and Consumer Characteristics on the Utilization of Nutrition InformationJournal of Consumer Research1731990362–374
34.
MoormanC.A Quasi Experiment to Assess the Consumer and Informational Determinants of Nutrition Information Processing Activities: The Case of the Nutrition Labeling and Education ActJournal of Public Policy and Marketing151199628–44
35.
PechmanC.StewartD.W.The Role of Comparative Advertising: Documenting Its Effects of Attention, Recall, and Purchase IntentionsJournal of Consumer Behavior1719902September
36.
PhelpsJ.NowakG.FerrellE.Privacy Concerns and Consumer Willingness to Provide Personal InformationJournal of Public Policy and Marketing191200027–41
37.
PyrczakF.RothD.H.The Readability of Directions on Non-Prescription DrugsJournal of the American Pharmaceutical Association16May1976242–243267
38.
SchoenbachlerD.D.GordonG.L.Trust and Consumer Willingness to Provide Information in Database-Driven Relationship MarketingJournal of Interactive Marketing16320022–16
39.
SchwartzJ.Privacy Policy Notices Are Called too Common and too Confusing2001New York TimesMay 7
40.
ShapiroS.P.The Social Control of Impersonal TrustAmerican Journal of Sociology9331987623–658
41.
SheehanK.B.HoyM.G.Dimensions of Privacy Concern Among Online ConsumersJournal of Public Policy and Marketing191200062–73
42.
SmithH.J.MilbergS.J.BurkeS.J.Information Privacy: Measuring Individual's Concerns About Organizational PracticesMIS Quarterly2021996167–196
43.
StewartD.W.MartinI.M.Intended and Unintended Consequences of Warning Messages: A Review and Synthesis of Empirical ResearchJournal of Public Policy and Marketing13119941–19
44.
StewartK.J.Trust Transfer on the World Wide WebOrganization Science14120035–18
45.
SultanF.MoorajH.A.Designing a Trust-Based e-Business StrategyMarketing Management104200140–46
46.
SzykmanL.R.BloomP.N.LevyA.S.A Proposed Model of the Use of Package Claims and Nutritional LabelsJournal of Public Policy and Marketing1621997228–241
