Research Issues

Attitudes toward Online Privacy Invasion : An emerging body of research on privacy has attempted to define the constructs of privacy and control (Smith, Milberg, and Burke, 1996), compiled a list of behavioral responses of the public to threats to their privacy and security (Phelps, Nowak, and Ferrell, 2000), and investigated the impact of independent ratings on perceptions of e-tailers (Miyazaki and Krishnamurthy, 2002). Factors that have been identified as influencing privacy concerns include awareness of information collection and usage, length of relationship with the e-tailer, and trust in the e-tailer (Sheehan and Hoy, 2000).

While the primary focus of research has been on delineating the scope of privacy and identifying the influences on consumer privacy concern, there have been relatively few attempts to see if there are any differences across various segments of the population with respect to their concern for privacy. There appears to be an automatic assumption that all people are equally concerned about their privacy. However, the literature on consumers' relationship with technology suggests that such an assumption might be rather na ve (Lester, 2001). For example, a model proposed by Morris and Venkatesh (2000) indicates that there are notable differences between age and gender groups with respect to technology acceptance. Specifically, men are more task-oriented with respect to the use of computers at work, and are therefore more likely to be adventurous in their adoption of new computer-based technologies. Women, on the other hand, are likely to be cautious in their use of computers and limit usage to the task at hand. Understanding the differences in (and responses to) privacy concerns across market segments will enable marketers and public policy makers to tailor their approaches to the respective constituent groups. This brings us to our first research question:

RQ1: How do consumers define privacy? Are there differences in consumers' attitudes toward online privacy across various age and gender segments?

Coping Strategies : Mick and Fournier (1998) report that consumers view technological products as both enabling and threatening , as both providing control and inducing chaos, as both enhancing their competence and emphasizing their sense of incompetence . Consumers have developed several strategies for coping with these technological paradoxes, which at the broadest level are classified into two levels: (1) avoidance strategies (these include ignoring technology or refusing to use it) and (2) confrontational strategies (these include accommodation of the technology, and attempting to master it). This chapter focuses on exploring the avoidance and confrontative strategies used by consumers with respect to one specific consequence of the use of Internet technology, namely, the threat to privacy of personal information. In this context, examples of avoidance strategies might include denial or minimization of the threat to privacy (refusing to acknowledge that one's personal information can be accessed, or acknowledging that personal information is accessible, but underestimating the probability that this might happen). Examples of confrontative strategies might include the adoption of technological measures to protect privacy (such as the blocking of cookies or other security-enhancing software) or demanding stricter government measures to protect privacy.

The type of technology- related coping strategy that an individual adopts is likely to be influenced by several variables. We posit that one of those variables is the individual's self-perceived level of technological competence (SPTC), i.e., how comfortable consumers feel about their technological skills. Consumers with higher levels of technological competence may feel confident about adopting 'confrontative' technological solutions to protect their privacy (such as firewalls and Spam-blocking software) - while at the same time being aware of the limits of the protection provided by such technology. In contrast, consumers who perceive themselves to be low in technological competence might be unsure about how to install firewalls or other software, and therefore might be more likely to engage in avoidance strategies. In order to explore these issues in depth, we propose the second research question:

RQ2: What is the impact of consumers' self-perceived level of technological competence on their level of concerns about privacy, and on their perceived self-efficacy in protecting their privacy?