Privacy attitudes and privacy‐related behavior

Abstract

A significant body of research has arisen over the last few decades describing the causes of observed incongruity between attitudes and behaviors. Recent work in the area of privacy has demonstrated this type of situation, in which people with negative attitudes toward the provision of personal information will disclose this very same information for no apparent benefit. However, little theoretical work has been developed to explain why this paradoxical anomaly exists. This paper suggests that attribution plays a crucial role and should be taken into account with regard to both the assessment of behavioral outcomes and the examination of attitude formation. The purpose of the current work, thus, is to consider the contribution of the two theoretical areas, attitude formation and attribution, in explaining the correspondence between privacy-related attitudes and behaviors. This represents a critical first step in understanding the antecedents of privacy-related behaviors and in further developing the understanding of attitude models in general. As such, the paper suggests a framework and a set of propositions to guide future research and theoretical development.

Cross-Cultural Privacy Prediction

“…A second limitation is that the outcome variable measures participants' acceptability of the different information disclosure scenarios. Although people's perception or intent is closely related with actual behavior [2], especially when both are measured in a specific context, studies have shown that users may behave in ways that seemingly contradict their stated personal information disclosure intentions [35]. However, since we cannot implement real-world scenarios to collect participants' actual behavioral response due to time and cost, this is the closest reaction that we can get.…”

“…about accountability and identifiability) have opposite effects in individualist and collectivist cultures. This cultural variability of attitudinal effects may be yet another reason for the existence of the privacy paradox [35], i.e. the surprisingly weak link between privacy attitudes and behaviors.…”

Disability, Age, and Informational Privacy Attitudes in Quality of Life Technology Applications

“…It is well known that attitudes do not always predict actual behavior [Ajzen 2001], and this also appears to be true in the realm of privacy attitudes and privacy-related behavior [Norberg and Horne 2007]. As quality of life technology applications are developed, studies of users in realworld settings that examine actual privacy-related behaviors will become necessary.…”

Explaining the joint effect of source credibility and negativity of information in two‐sided messages

“…The product is likely to be seen as unique when a disclosure is unique but not when a disclosure is common (not unique). Attributional activities can influence attitudes (e.g., Norberg & Horne, 2007), and both inferences affect brand attitudes, as described in the columns on the left-hand side of Table 1 (below "no cognitive load").…”