Start Date
10-12-2017 12:00 AM
Description
Traditionally, a majority of IS privacy research assumes that individuals are able to form confident privacy risk perceptions when being confronted with situations involving the disclosure of personal information. We challenge this assumption by offering theoretical arguments that privacy risks are difficult to evaluate for individuals. Based on an experimental survey study among 233 participants we show that (1) the formation of privacy risk perceptions is dependent on external reference information and (2) more external information allow a more confident risk judgment, which in turn has a stronger impact on an individual’s privacy-related behavior. These findings extend privacy calculus theory by introducing the context-specific evaluability of privacy risks as a moderator of the effect of perceived privacy risks on usage intentions of privacy-invasive information systems. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and future research suggestions are provided.
Recommended Citation
Brakemeier, Hendrik; Wagner, Amina; and Buxmann, Peter, "When Risk Perceptions Are Nothing but Guesses – An Evaluability Perspective on Privacy Risks" (2017). ICIS 2017 Proceedings. 16.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2017/Security/Presentations/16
When Risk Perceptions Are Nothing but Guesses – An Evaluability Perspective on Privacy Risks
Traditionally, a majority of IS privacy research assumes that individuals are able to form confident privacy risk perceptions when being confronted with situations involving the disclosure of personal information. We challenge this assumption by offering theoretical arguments that privacy risks are difficult to evaluate for individuals. Based on an experimental survey study among 233 participants we show that (1) the formation of privacy risk perceptions is dependent on external reference information and (2) more external information allow a more confident risk judgment, which in turn has a stronger impact on an individual’s privacy-related behavior. These findings extend privacy calculus theory by introducing the context-specific evaluability of privacy risks as a moderator of the effect of perceived privacy risks on usage intentions of privacy-invasive information systems. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and future research suggestions are provided.