Consumers' Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Responses to an Invasion of Privacy: Essays on Understanding Consumer's Privacy Concerns

This dissertation focuses on the discrepancy between consumers’ attitudes towardsprivacy and actual behavior. Although consumers increasingly protest against invasionsof privacy, they routinely disclose more information than their disclosure intent. Firmsmake sizeable investments in acquiring consumer information because it helps thembuild and enhance customer relationships. However, some of the information acquisitionoccurs at the expense of consumers’ privacy. Against this backdrop, understanding andbeing responsive to consumers’ privacy concerns is critical.Essay 1 focuses on consumers’ thoughts and feelings underlying their intentionto disclose or withhold information from firms. I use the Zaltman Metaphor ElicitationTechnique (ZMET), a depth interviewing process that involves story-telling, sensoryimages, and vignettes based on psychodrama. The results reported are based on depthinterviews of twenty consumers from a large city and mid-sized town in the U.S.A. Essay 2 focuses on consumers’ behavioral responses to an invasion of privacyfrom a social justice theory perspective. I use the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in anonline survey of 997 respondents to understand thoughts and feelings about privacy thatdrive the behavioral responses of consumers to an actual/potential invasion of privacy. Iidentify the antecedents and outcomes of consumers’ information experience with firms.Additionally, I examine vividness effects to understand the extent to which consumerperceptions of likely outcomes due to firms acquiring and using information about themare influenced by media coverage of the issue.Building on the findings of essays 1 and 2, I develop a model and workinghypotheses for further empirical analysis. By examining the negative (i.e., violation ofprivacy) as well as positive experiences of consumers, I identify how consumers’attitudes towards firms acquiring and using information about them are focused on risks,whereas their behavior takes into account risks as well as rewards.A better understanding of consumers’ privacy concerns can be valuable to firmsin personalizing their data acquisition and use strategies, customer communications aswell as their overall customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.