Developing a Dichotomy of Information Privacy Concerns

In the e-commerce environment, a person's concerns for information privacy (CFIP) regarding the general e-commerce environment are different from his or her specific concerns for information privacy regarding particular web sites. Such a distinction was observed in literature but received limited attention for its clarification. Importantly, how the two types of privacy concerns relate to each other and how they relate to various antecedent and consequence factors were not well studied. Drawing upon attitude theories, this research develops a dichotomy of privacy concerns, including general CFIP and specific CFIP. A research model is developed to specify the relationship between the two constructs and their relationship with antecedent and consequence factors. Potential contributions to research and practice are discussed.