IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v168y2023ics0148296323005647.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A construal level theory approach to privacy protection: The conjoint impact of benefits and risks of information disclosure

Author

Listed:
  • Butori, Raphaëlle
  • Lancelot Miltgen, Caroline

Abstract

To stand out from the competition, companies collect massive amounts of personal information, which they use to create memorable and personalized customer experiences. At the same time, they face increasing regulatory pressures to inform these customers of the way their personal data are collected and used. To reach acceptable levels of transparency in marketplace interactions, companies thus now need to communicate both the benefits and the risks associated with the disclosure of personal information. An explicit mention of these risks, however, may exert a negative impact on the amount of personal information that consumers agree to disclose. Using a construal-level theoretical lens, this research explores how companies can address this transparency trade-off and tests communication strategies they can use to overcome it. Findings show that companies’ framings of the benefits and risks of sharing information affect disclosures, leading consumers to share more personal data than their privacy preferences would suggest. Three experiments confirm that when consumers are exposed to concrete (vs. abstract) privacy risks, they perceive personal questions as more sensitive (Study 1) and are less likely to reveal personal information (Study 2). However, when exposed to privacy protection statements (rather than privacy risks per se), consumers reveal more information if those statements are concrete (Study 3). The studies also reveal an interaction effect between the benefits and risks of sharing information, such that the abstraction level of risks influences information disclosure only if the benefits of disclosure are concrete. Consumers’ feelings of vulnerability also act as a mediating variable, in support of the relevance of construal level theory for explaining information disclosure processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Butori, Raphaëlle & Lancelot Miltgen, Caroline, 2023. "A construal level theory approach to privacy protection: The conjoint impact of benefits and risks of information disclosure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323005647
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296323005647
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114205?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zeng, Fue & Ye, Qing & Li, Jing & Yang, Zhilin, 2021. "Does self-disclosure matter? A dynamic two-stage perspective for the personalization-privacy paradox," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 667-675.
    2. Kelly D. Martin & Patrick E. Murphy, 2017. "The role of data privacy in marketing," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 135-155, March.
    3. Leslie K. John & Alessandro Acquisti & George Loewenstein, 2011. "Strangers on a Plane: Context-Dependent Willingness to Divulge Sensitive Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(5), pages 858-873.
    4. Guizzardi, Andrea & Mariani, Marcello M. & Stacchini, Annalisa, 2022. "A temporal construal theory explanation of the price-quality relationship in online dynamic pricing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 32-44.
    5. Loebnitz, Natascha & Frank, Phillip & Otterbring, Tobias, 2022. "Stairway to organic heaven: The impact of social and temporal distance in print ads," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1044-1057.
    6. Markos, Ereni & Labrecque, Lauren I. & Milne, George R., 2018. "A New Information Lens: The Self-concept and Exchange Context as a Means to Understand Information Sensitivity of Anonymous and Personal Identifying Information," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 46-62.
    7. Miltgen, Caroline Lancelot & Henseler, Jörg & Gelhard, Carsten & Popovič, Aleš, 2016. "Introducing new products that affect consumer privacy: A mediation model," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4659-4666.
    8. Gerri Spassova & Angela Y. Lee, 2013. "Looking into the Future: A Match between Self-View and Temporal Distance," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(1), pages 159-171.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tan, Teck Ming & Salo, Jari & Aspara, Jaakko, 2024. "You fooled me, so I’ll tell you about myself! personnel-related brand betrayal experiences and disclosure of personal information," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fehrenbach, David & Herrando, Carolina, 2021. "The effect of customer-perceived value when paying for a product with personal data: A real-life experimental study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 222-232.
    2. Slepchuk, Alec N. & Milne, George R. & Swani, Kunal, 2022. "Overcoming privacy concerns in consumers’ use of health information technologies: A justice framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 782-793.
    3. Dominique Carry & Valérie-Inès de La Ville, 2021. "Process of adopting a personal data portability service: highlighting the ambiguity perceived by young users [Processus d’adoption d’un service de portabilité des données personnelles : mise en lum," Post-Print hal-03328025, HAL.
    4. Fue Zeng & Qing Ye & Zhilin Yang & Jing Li & Yiping Amy Song, 2022. "Which Privacy Policy Works, Privacy Assurance or Personalization Declaration? An Investigation of Privacy Policies and Privacy Concerns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 781-798, April.
    5. Markos, Ereni & Labrecque, Lauren I. & Milne, George R., 2018. "A New Information Lens: The Self-concept and Exchange Context as a Means to Understand Information Sensitivity of Anonymous and Personal Identifying Information," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 46-62.
    6. Hung-Pin Shih & Wuqiang Liu, 2023. "Beyond the trade-offs on Facebook: the underlying mechanisms of privacy choices," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 353-387, June.
    7. Aiello, Gaetano & Donvito, Raffaele & Acuti, Diletta & Grazzini, Laura & Mazzoli, Valentina & Vannucci, Virginia & Viglia, Giampaolo, 2020. "Customers’ Willingness to Disclose Personal Information throughout the Customer Purchase Journey in Retailing: The Role of Perceived Warmth," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 490-506.
    8. Grosso, Monica & Castaldo, Sandro & Li, Hua (Ariel) & Larivière, Bart, 2020. "What Information Do Shoppers Share? The Effect of Personnel-, Retailer-, and Country-Trust on Willingness to Share Information," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 524-547.
    9. Rashid Saeed, Muhammad & Khan, Huda & Lee, Richard & Lockshin, Larry & Bellman, Steven & Cohen, Justin & Yang, Song, 2024. "Construal level theory in advertising research: A systematic review and directions for future research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Ereni Markos & Priscilla Peña & Lauren I. Labrecque & Kunal Swani, 2023. "Are data breaches the new norm? Exploring data breach trends, consumer sentiment, and responses to security invasions," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 1089-1119, July.
    11. Pizzi, Gabriele & Scarpi, Daniele, 2020. "Privacy threats with retail technologies: A consumer perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    12. Martin, Kirsten, 2018. "The penalty for privacy violations: How privacy violations impact trust online," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 103-116.
    13. Souka, Mohamed & Bilstein, Nicola & Decker, Reinhold, 2024. "Give me your data and I’ll dress you: A two-sided messaging approach to address privacy concerns surrounding in-store technologies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Swani, Kunal & Milne, George R. & Slepchuk, Alec N., 2021. "Revisiting Trust and Privacy Concern in Consumers' Perceptions of Marketing Information Management Practices: Replication and Extension," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 137-158.
    15. Sheng, Xiaojing & Felix, Reto & Saravade, Swapnil & Siguaw, Judy A. & Ketron, Seth C. & Krejtz, Krzysztof & Duchowski, Andrew T., 2020. "Sight unseen: The role of online security indicators in visual attention to online privacy information," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 218-240.
    16. Ritu Agarwal & Michelle Dugas & Guodong (Gordon) Gao & P. K. Kannan, 2020. "Emerging technologies and analytics for a new era of value-centered marketing in healthcare," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 9-23, January.
    17. Kareklas, Ioannis & Muehling, Darrel D. & King, Skyler, 2019. "The effect of color and self-view priming in persuasive communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 33-49.
    18. Rosenbaum, Mark S. & Ramirez, Germán Contreras & Campbell, Jeffrey & Klaus, Philipp, 2021. "The product is me: Hyper-personalized consumer goods as unconventional luxury," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 446-454.
    19. Pieper, Nadine & Woisetschläger, David M., 2024. "Customer misbehavior in access-based mobility services: An examination of prevention strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Sweldens, Steven & Puntoni, Stefano & Paolacci, Gabriele & Vissers, Maarten, 2014. "The bias in the bias: Comparative optimism as a function of event social undesirability," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 229-244.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:168:y:2023:i:c:s0148296323005647. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.