Online businesses collect a wealth of data on customers, often without properly informing them. Increasingly, these data can be used for behavioral price discrimination. In this two-study article, we explore how consumers would respond if businesses were compelled to disclose their use of discriminatory behavioral pricing techniques. Using different disclosure frames, we examine the effects of disclosure on purchase intention and purchase probability. The findings indicate that specific disclosure frames affect purchase intentions. Furthermore, we find that a disclosure frame that is more in line with a consumer's self-interest increases purchase intention. Specifically, the frame indirectly influences intention to purchase through its effect on the perception that the use of behavioral pricing information serves selfinterest. In this way, our study draws attention to a potentially unanticipated effect of regulatory intervention. Implications for future research and legal policy are discussed, focused on the need to design and empirically test the effectiveness of disclosures online.
In the area of financial services, lawmakers and regulators increasingly promote the use of plain language in business-to-consumer contracts. Although such efforts are undoubtedly welcomed by consumers, as they promote better comprehension, not much is known about the actual effects of improved readability on consumer attitudes and cognitive processes. Does improved readability in general contract terms have an impact on the consumer's perception of their contractual position? Do contracts that are easier to read influence the steps or actions taken by consumers in the wake of conflict? In response to these questions, we present data from an experiment that investigates the relationship between the reading ease of general contract terms on the one hand and consumer expectations and willingness to engage in conflict on the other. Our findings suggest that readability increases the trust and confidence of the consumer in the sense that it increases their expectations of the claim. Moreover, we have found partial evidence to suggest that reading ease also increases the consumer's willingness to engage in legal action in the case of subsequent claim denial.Keywords Plain language . Reading ease . General contract terms . Conflict engagement In recent years, the interest in the readability of business communication has grown considerably. The financial services industry-an industry that designs and sells products, which are
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