Causes and consequences of consumer online privacy concern

Purpose - Past research on internet privacy has examined various aspects of privacy regulation and consumer privacy concerns. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that links anteceding environmental factors with the resulting consumer responses using the power-responsibility equilibrium perspective. Design/methodology/approach - An online survey of 182 net shoppers was conducted whereby respondents were asked to recall a recent web site registration that required them to provide personal information online. Findings - The results indicate that robust perceived business policies and governmental regulation reduce consumer privacy concern. More interestingly, the data show that a perceived lack of business policy or governmental regulation will result in consumers attempting to regain power balance through a variety of responses. As predicted, increased concern resulted in higher power-enhancing responses such as the fabrication of personal information, use of privacy-enhancing technologies and refusal to purchase. Practical implications - To reduce consumer privacy concern and subsequent negative responses, organizations need to pay close attention to their privacy policies through greater self-regulation, third-party accreditation and to ensure the presence of compliance mechanisms that support and check the marketing and collection activities of their organization and related par-ties. Regulators can reduce consumer concern by further defining and improving the legal framework for protecting consumer privacy on the internet. In addition, governments should consider overseeing third-party privacy accreditation as well as firm. and industry self-regulation. Finally, to improve consumer perceptions of privacy protection, enhanced regulatory privacy protection should be communicated to the public along with a response outlet for privacy concerns so that consumers know that they should report privacy-related complaints to a regulatory agency. Originality/value - The paper examines how business policies and regulation influence consumer online privacy concern, and the resulting consequences on internet user behavior.