Theories in online information privacy research: A critical review and an integrated framework

To study the formation of online consumers' information privacy concern and its effect, scholars from different perspectives applied multiple theories in research. To date, there has yet to be a systematic review and integration of the theories in literature. To fill the gap, this study reviews fifteen established theories in online information privacy research and recognizes the primary contributions and connections of the theories. Based on the review, an integrated framework is developed for further research. The framework highlights two interrelated trade-offs that influence an individual's information disclosure behavior: the privacy calculus (i.e., the trade-off between expected benefits and privacy risks) and the risk calculus (i.e., the trade-off between privacy risks and efficacy of coping mechanisms). These two trade-offs are together called the dual-calculus model. A decision table based on the dual-calculus model is provided to predict an individual's intention to disclose personal information online. Implications of the study for further research and practice are discussed.

[1]  Hairong Li,et al.  Consumer Privacy Concerns and Preference for Degree of Regulatory Control , 2009 .

[2]  H. Jeff Smith,et al.  Information Privacy: Measuring Individuals' Concerns About Organizational Practices , 1996, MIS Q..

[3]  Chang Liu,et al.  Beyond concern - a privacy-trust-behavioral intention model of electronic commerce , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[4]  I. Ajzen.  Nature and operation of attitudes. , 2001, Annual review of psychology.

[5]  J. Freedman,et al.  Conceptions of Crowding. (Book Reviews: Crowding and Behavior; The Environment and Social Behavior. Privacy, Personal Space. Territory, Crowding) , 1975 .

[6]  K. Eisenhardt.  Agency Theory: An Assessment and Review , 1989 .

[7]  Charles r. Taylor,et al.  Voluntary self‐disclosure of information on the Internet: A multimethod study of the motivations and consequences of disclosing information on blogs , 2008 .

[8]  Heng Xu,et al.  Information Privacy Research: An Interdisciplinary Review , 2011, MIS Q..

[9]  R. W. Rogers,et al.  A meta-analysis of research on protection motivation theory. , 2000 .

[10]  Thomas W. Dunfee,et al.  Toward A Unified Conception Of Business Ethics: Integrative Social Contracts Theory , 1994 .

[11]  William C. McDowell,et al.  Am I Really at Risk? Determinants of Online Users' Intentions to Use Strong Passwords , 2009 .

[12]  Hua Dai,et al.  Mobile commerce adoption in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study , 2009, DATB.

[13]  Mike Z. Yao,et al.  Predicting user concerns about online privacy , 2007 .

[14]  Dan Jong Kim,et al.  Revisiting the role of web assurance seals in business-to-consumer electronic commerce , 2008, Decis. Support Syst..

[15]  Yunjie Calvin Xu,et al.  Am I Afraid of My Peers? Understanding the Antecedents of Information Privacy Concerns in the Online Social Context , 2009, ICIS.

[16]  Kai Lung Hui,et al.  Overcoming Online Information Privacy Concerns: An Information-Processing Theory Approach , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[17]  R. Laufer,et al.  Privacy as a Concept and a Social Issue: A Multidimensional Developmental Theory , 1977 .

[18]  Richard D. Holowczak,et al.  Locking the door but leaving the computer vulnerable: Factors inhibiting home users' adoption of software firewalls , 2008, Decis. Support Syst..

[19]  I. Ajzen.  Perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. , 2002 .

[20]  A. Bandura.  Social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective. , 1999, Annual review of psychology.

[21]  Varun Grover,et al.  Knowing your customers: Using a reciprocal relationship to enhance voluntary information disclosure , 2010, Decis. Support Syst..

[22]  Heng Xu,et al.  Information Privacy Concerns: Linking Individual Perceptions with Institutional Privacy Assurances , 2011, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[23]  Hock-Hai Teo,et al.  The Role of Push-Pull Technology in Privacy Calculus: The Case of Location-Based Services , 2009, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[24]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Adoption of Electronic Health Records in the Presence of Privacy Concerns: The Elaboration Likelihood Model and Individual Persuasion , 2009, MIS Q..

[25]  S. Petronio.  Communication Boundary Management: A Theoretical Model of Managing Disclosure of Private Information Between Marital Couples , 1991 .

[26]  John Short,et al.  The social psychology of telecommunications , 1976 .

[27]  Barton A. Weitz,et al.  Self-Disclosure on the Web: the Impact of Privacy Policy, Reward, and Company Reputation , 2002 .

[28]  Youngme Moon.  Intimate Exchanges: Using Computers to Elicit Self-Disclosure from Consumers , 2000 .

[29]  R. Rice.  Media Appropriateness Using Social Presence Theory to Compare Traditional and New Organizational Media , 1993 .

[30]  M. E. Gordon,et al.  Direct Mail Privacy-Efficiency Trade-offs within an Implied Social Contract Framework , 1993 .

[31]  R. W. Rogers,et al.  A Protection Motivation Theory of Fear Appeals and Attitude Change1. , 1975, The Journal of psychology.

[32]  Oliver Günther,et al.  Privacy in e-commerce: stated preferences vs. actual behavior , 2005, CACM.

[33]  Seounmi Youn.  Determinants of Online Privacy Concern and Its Influence on Privacy Protection Behaviors Among Young Adolescents , 2009 .

[34]  Saeed Samiee,et al.  The Influence of Global Marketing Standardization on Performance , 1992 .

[35]  Wynne W. Chin,et al.  Understanding frameworks and reviews: a commentary to assist us in moving our field forward by analyzing our past , 2007, DATB.

[36]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  Information Privacy in the Marketspace: Implications for the Commercial Uses of Anonymity on the Web , 1999, Inf. Soc..

[37]  Anthony D. Miyazaki.  Online Privacy and the Disclosure of Cookie Use: Effects on Consumer Trust and Anticipated Patronage , 2008 .

[38]  Dan J. Kim,et al.  Self-Perception-Based Versus Transference-Based Trust Determinants in Computer-Mediated Transactions: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Study , 2008, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[39]  Tamara Dinev,et al.  Internet privacy concerns and their antecedents - measurement validity and a regression model , 2004, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[40]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[41]  H. Raghav Rao,et al.  A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: The role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents , 2008, Decis. Support Syst..

[42]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Understanding and Mitigating Uncertainty in Online Exchange Relationships: A Principal-Agent Perspective , 2007, MIS Q..

[43]  Adam N. Joinson,et al.  Privacy, Trust, and Self-Disclosure Online , 2010, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[44]  Sang M. Lee,et al.  An Analysis of Diversity in Electronic Commerce Research , 2007, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[45]  Rathindra Sarathy,et al.  Understanding Situational Online Information Disclosure as a Privacy Calculus , 2010, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[46]  David Gefen,et al.  The impact of personal dispositions on information sensitivity, privacy concern and trust in disclosing health information online , 2010, Decis. Support Syst..

[47]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[48]  Samuel B. Bacharach,et al.  Organizational Theories: Some Criteria for Evaluation , 1989 .

[49]  S. Upadhyaya,et al.  Internet and Online Information Privacy: An Exploratory Study of Preteens and Early Teens , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

[50]  P. K. Kannan,et al.  The customer economics of internet privacy , 2002 .

[51]  Kirk L. Wakefield,et al.  Can A Retail Web Site be Social? , 2007 .

[52]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  State of the information privacy literature: where are we now and where should we go? , 2011 .

[53]  M. Bergen,et al.  Agency Relationships in Marketing: A Review of the Implications and Applications of Agency and Related Theories , 1992 .

[54]  V. Vroom.  Work and motivation , 1964 .

[55]  Tamara Dinev,et al.  Internet privacy concerns and beliefs about government surveillance - An empirical investigation , 2008, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[56]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[57]  Naresh K. Malhotra,et al.  Internet Users' Information Privacy Concerns (IUIPC): The Construct, the Scale, and a Causal Model , 2004, Inf. Syst. Res..

[58]  Qing Hu,et al.  The Centrality of Awareness in the Formation of User Behavioral Intention toward Protective Information Technologies , 2007, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[59]  Dong-Hee Shin,et al.  The effects of trust, security and privacy in social networking: A security-based approach to understand the pattern of adoption , 2010, Interact. Comput..

[60]  Rathindra Sarathy,et al.  The role of affect and cognition on online consumers' decision to disclose personal information to unfamiliar online vendors , 2011, Decis. Support Syst..

[61]  Tamara Dinev,et al.  An Extended Privacy Calculus Model for E-Commerce Transactions , 2006, Inf. Syst. Res..

[62]  Nadim Jahangir,et al.  Effect of perceived usefulness, ease of use, security and privacy on customer attitude and adaptation in the context of E-Banking , 2007 .

[63]  Pan Ji,et al.  Am I Safe? Exploring Relationships between Primary Territories and Online Privacy , 2010 .

[64]  C. Tu.  The relationship between social presence and online privacy , 2002, Internet High. Educ..

[65]  Barry M. Staw,et al.  What Theory is Not , 1995 .

[66]  Yuan Li,et al.  Empirical Studies on Online Information Privacy Concerns: Literature Review and an Integrative Framework , 2011, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[67]  Ravi Sen,et al.  A Qualitative Analysis Of The Role of Users, Vendors, and Governments in the Standards Development Process , 2006, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[68]  Robert E. Crossler,et al.  Privacy in the Digital Age: A Review of Information Privacy Research in Information Systems , 2011, MIS Q..

[69]  Hock-Hai Teo,et al.  AIS Electronic , 2013 .

[70]  Vincenzo Russo,et al.  Internet Users' Privacy Concerns and Beliefs About Government Surveillance: An Exploratory Study of Differences Between Italy and the United States , 2006, J. Glob. Inf. Manag..

[71]  T. Tyler,et al.  The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice , 1988 .

[72]  M. Culnan,et al.  Information Privacy Concerns, Procedural Fairness, and Impersonal Trust: An Empirical Investigation , 1999 .

[73]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  An Empirical Examination of the Concern for Information Privacy Instrument , 2002, Inf. Syst. Res..

[74]  Alan Robert Peslak,et al.  An Ethical Exploration of Privacy and Radio Frequency Identification , 2005 .

[75]  Mayuram S. Krishnan,et al.  The Personalization Privacy Paradox: An Empirical Evaluation of Information Transparency and the Willingness to be Profiled Online for Personalization , 2006, MIS Q..

[76]  Keng Siau,et al.  An Experimental Study on Ubiquitous commerce Adoption: Impact of Personalization and Privacy Concerns , 2008, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[77]  Norman A. Johnson,et al.  Personality traits and concern for privacy: an empirical study in the context of location-based services , 2008, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[78]  Sylvain Senecal,et al.  Can the Media Richness of a Privacy Disclosure Enhance Outcome? A Multifaceted View of Trust in Rich Media Environments , 2010, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[79]  Charles F. Hofacker,et al.  Customer Information Sharing with E-Vendors: The Roles of Incentives and Trust , 2010, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[80]  Silvana Trimi,et al.  Influence of the Web Vendor's Interventions on Privacy-related Behaviors in E-commerce , 2006, Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[81]  Michele M. Dornisch,et al.  When is trust not enough? The role of perceived privacy of communication tools in comfort with self-disclosure , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[82]  Mary Beth Rosson,et al.  The personalization privacy paradox: An exploratory study of decision making process for location-aware marketing , 2011, Decis. Support Syst..

[83]  Andrew J. Rohm,et al.  Just what the doctor ordered: The role of information sensitivity and trust in reducing medical information privacy concern , 2004 .

[84]  Chao‐Min Chiu,et al.  Determinants of customer repurchase intention in online shopping , 2009, Online Inf. Rev..

[85]  Yolande E. Chan,et al.  Theoretical Explanations for Firms' Information Privacy Behaviors , 2005, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[86]  Sung S. Kim,et al.  Internet Users' Information Privacy-Protective Responses: A Taxonomy and a Nomological Model , 2008, MIS Q..

[87]  Mikko T. Siponen,et al.  Six Design Theories for IS Security Policies and Guidelines , 2006, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[88]  Mary Ann Eastlick,et al.  Understanding online B-to-C relationships: An integrated model of privacy concerns, trust, and commitment , 2006 .

[89]  Tamara Dinev,et al.  Internet Privacy Concerns and Social Awareness as Determinants of Intention to Transact , 2005, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[90]  H. Raghav Rao,et al.  Private Transactions in Public Places: An Exploration of the Impact of the Computer Environment on Public Transactional Web Site Use , 2006, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..