IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ipt/iptwpa/jrc103997.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Testing the Effect of the Cookie Banners on Behaviour

Author

Abstract

We conducted a laboratory experiment (n=602) to test the effect on behaviour of six different cookie banner messages. These messages were based on four behavioural insights: defaults, information deficit model, protection motivation theory (PMT) and social norms. A control condition presented the traditional cookie banner message as recommended by the European Commission (EC). The behavioural measures were (a) the decision to accept cookies, (b) the decision to learn more about a website's cookie policy and (c) the time spent reading cookie policy pages. The main results are that a default banner, which told participants that continuing to browse implied cookie acceptance, led to higher cookie acceptance rates. With regard to users' decision to learn more about cookies, a message which combined all elements from PMT made people less likely to click on the link for more information.

Suggested Citation

  • René van Bavel & Nuria Rodríguez-Priego, 2016. "Testing the Effect of the Cookie Banners on Behaviour," JRC Research Reports JRC103997, Joint Research Centre.
  • Handle: RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc103997
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC103997
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jacoby, Jacob & Speller, Donald E & Berning, Carol A Kohn, 1974. "Brand Choice Behavior as a Function of Information Load: Replication and Extension," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 1(1), pages 33-42, June.
    2. Nuria Rodríguez-Priego & René van Bavel, 2016. "The Effect of Warning Messages on Secure Behaviour Online: Results from a Lab Experiment," JRC Research Reports JRC103188, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Scammon, Debra L, 1977. ""Information Load" and Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 4(3), pages 148-155, December.
    4. René van Bavel & Nuria Rodríguez-Priego, 2016. "Nudging Online Security Behaviour with Warning Messages: Results from an Online Experiment," JRC Research Reports JRC103223, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Cass Sunstein, 2014. "Nudging: A Very Short Guide," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 583-588, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Anna Fielder & Riina Vuorikari & Nuria Rodriguez-Priego & Yves Punie, 2016. "Background Review for Developing the Digital Competence Framework for Consumers: A snapshot of hot-button issues and recent literature," JRC Research Reports JRC103332, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Sicilia, Maria & Ruiz, Salvador, 2010. "The Effect of Web-Based Information Availability on Consumers' Processing and Attitudes," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 31-41.
    3. Nuria Rodríguez-Priego & René van Bavel, 2016. "The Effect of Warning Messages on Secure Behaviour Online: Results from a Lab Experiment," JRC Research Reports JRC103188, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Kaiser Karen, 2011. "Variety Aversion and Information Overload: An Experimental Approach," Working Papers 2011-01, Banco de México.
    5. Nuria Rodríguez-Priego & René van Bavel & Shara Monteleone, 2016. "The disconnection between privacy notices and information disclosure: an online experiment," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(3), pages 433-461, December.
    6. Anish Nagpal & Adwait Khare & Tilottama Chowdhury & Lauren Labrecque & Ameet Pandit, 2011. "The impact of the amount of available information on decision delay: The role of common features," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 405-421, November.
    7. Persson, Petra, 2018. "Attention manipulation and information overload," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 78-106, May.
    8. Weingarten, Nina & Bach, Leonie & Wang, Wen-Xiu & Roosen, Jutta & Hartmann, Monika, 2023. "Every Step You Take: Nudging Animal Welfare Product Sales in a Virtual Supermarket," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335733, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Shumon Zihady, 2023. "Dupchanchia Model of Students' drop-out control through engagement and appreciation after Covid-19: A Behavioral Policy intervention in the field administration of Bangladesh," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 43(1), pages 136-148, May.
    10. Sexton, Richard J., 1979. "A Theory On Information And Its Application To The Effect Of Labeling On Food Products," Staff Papers 13450, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    11. Adele Quigley-McBride & Gregory Franco & Daniel Bruce McLaren & Antonia Mantonakis & Maryanne Garry, 2018. "In the real world, people prefer their last whisky when tasting options in a long sequence," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, August.
    12. Bauer, Jan M. & Aarestrup, Simon C. & Hansen, Pelle G. & Reisch, Lucia A., 2022. "Nudging more sustainable grocery purchases: Behavioural innovations in a supermarket setting," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    14. Huddleston, Patricia T. & Behe, Bridget K. & Driesener, Carl & Minahan, S., 2018. "Inside-outside: Using eye-tracking to investigate search-choice processes in the retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 85-93.
    15. Kick, Markus, 2015. "The Price Premium Induced by Branding: A Health Care Case Study," EconStor Preprints 182504, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Sylvain Chareyron & David Gray & Yannick L’Horty, 2018. "Raising Take-Up of Social Assistance Benefits through a Simple Mailing: Evidence from a French Field Experiment," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 128(5), pages 777-805.
    17. Lisa van der Sande & Ilona Wildeman & Adriana G. Bus & Roel van Steensel, 2023. "Nudging to Stimulate Reading in Primary and Secondary Education," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    18. Löfgren, Åsa & Nordblom, Katarina, 2020. "A theoretical framework of decision making explaining the mechanisms of nudging," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 1-12.
    19. René van Bavel & Nuria Rodríguez-Priego, 2016. "Nudging Online Security Behaviour with Warning Messages: Results from an Online Experiment," JRC Research Reports JRC103223, Joint Research Centre.
    20. Xiuping Zhang & Jaewon Choi, 2022. "The Importance of Social Influencer-Generated Contents for User Cognition and Emotional Attachment: An Information Relevance Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-18, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cookies; privacy; online behaviour; behavioural economics; nudging; experiments;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ipt:iptwpa:jrc103997. 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: Publication Officer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipjrces.html .

    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.