Title: Online consumer privacy concerns and willingness to provide personal data on the internet

Authors: Caroline Lancelot Miltgen

Addresses: Department of Law, Economics and Management, Groupe de Recherche Angevin en Economie, et Management (GRANEM), University of Angers, 13, allee Francois Mitterrand – BP 13633, 49 036 Angers Cedex 01, France

Abstract: Our research examines the manner in which web users choose between participation in the internet economy and protection of their personal data. We study the influence of various contextual elements (e.g., the privacy policies posted on sites) and individual characteristics (e.g., privacy concerns) on the willingness to communicate personal data online. An experimental study carried out on a sample of French students provides the framework for testing our conceptual model. The impact of privacy concerns on web users| attitude is confirmed. Privacy policies and the amount of data requested are also shown to influence the willingness to self-disclose. Finally, our findings establish that situational factors have a greater impact on the decision to provide personal data than personal convictions.

Keywords: privacy concerns; personal data; internet; consumer behaviour; self-disclosure; privacy notices; consumer privacy; web users; privacy policy; personal information.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2009.027790

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2009 Vol.6 No.6, pp.574 - 603

Published online: 11 Aug 2009 *

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