The penalty for privacy violations: How privacy violations impact trust online
By Kirsten E. Martin. 2018
With information misuse as a particularly salient form of risk online, respecting privacy is often closely tied to trust in consumer surveys. This study uses factorial vignette survey methodology to measure the relative importance of violating privacy expectations to consumers' trust in a website. The findings suggest consumers find violations of privacy expectations, specifically the secondary uses of information, to diminish trust in a website. Firms that violate privacy expectations are penalized twice: violations of privacy (1) impact trust directly and (2) diminish the importance of trust factors such as integrity and ability on trust. In addition, consumers with greater technology savvy place greater importance on privacy factors than respondents with less knowledge. Violations of privacy may place firms in a downward trust spiral by decreasing not only trust in the website but also the impact of possible mechanisms to rebuild trust such as a firm's integrity and ability.
Subfields: Privacy & Security
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In Privacy & Security
Citations in the corpus
- Evaluating the Social Impact of Generative AI Systems in Systems and Society (2023, background): “Harms can lead to shifts in power differentials and less respect or influence in an affected environment, in addition to personal changes in expectations of privacy [144] and autonomy.”
- The future of social media in marketing (2019, background): “…and privacy (e.g., Aguirre et al. 2015; White et al. 2008), the relationship of privacy as it relates to consumer trust and firm performance (e.g., Martin 2018; Martin et al. 2017), and the legal and ethical aspects of data and digital privacy (e.g., Culnan and Williams 2009; Nill and Aalberts…”
- The digital transformation of innovation and entrepreneurship: Progress, challenges and key themes (2019, background): “Digitization has also compelled government agencies and other public institutions to rethink the laws, regulations, and policies related to a wide range of issues including intellectual property rights, data privacy and security, consumer rights, worker skills and training, entrepreneurial financing”