Using an elaboration likelihood approach to better understand the persuasiveness of website privacy assurance cues for online consumers

Abstract

Privacy concerns can greatly hinder consumers' intentions to interact with a website. The success of a website therefore depends on its ability to improve consumers' perceptions of privacy assurance. Seals and assurance statements are mechanisms often used to increase this assurance; however, the findings of the extant literature regarding the effectiveness of these tools are mixed. We propose a model based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) that explains conditions under which privacy assurance is more or less effective, clarifying the contradictory findings in previous literature. We test our model in a free-simulation online experiment, and the results of the analysis indicate that the inclusion of assurance statements and the combination, understanding, and assurance of seals influence privacy assurance. Privacy assurance is most effective when seals and statements are accompanied by the peripheral cues of website quality and brand image and when counterargumentation-through transaction risk-is minimized. Importantly, we show ELM to be an appropriate theoretical lens to explain the equivocal results in the literature. Finally, we suggest theoretical and practical implications.

Location information disclosure in location-based social network services: Privacy calculus, benefit structure, and gender differences

“…A key concept associated with information disclosure in extant literature is privacy (Cheung & Lee, 2006;Lowry et al, 2012;Pavlou, 2011;Shah, Peikari, & Yasin, 2014;Squicciarini, Xu, & Zhang, 2011;Yao, Rice, & Wallis, 2007). Privacy has been defined in many ways in previous studies.…”

Influence of trust and perceived value on the intention to purchase travel online: Integrating the effects of assurance on trust antecedents

“…In our model, we add a fourth signal, third-party assurance seals. Privacy and security policies are statements provided by online sellers that supply information and claim that privacy and security are assured (Kim & Benbasat, 2003;Lowry et al, 2011;Ray et al, 2011). Schlosser, White, and Lloyd (2006) refer to the website investment made by the online seller in terms of the effort, time, and money spent on developing it.…”

“…In this general context, previous studies have analyzed trust in e-commerce together with other factors (Cyr, 2008(Cyr, , 2013Cyr, Kindra, & Dash, 2008;Harris & Goode, 2004;Jin, Park, & Kim, 2007;Kim et al, 2008;Kim, Xu, & Gupta, 2012;McKnight & Chervany, 2001;. Previous research in e-commerce has examined the antecedents of perceived privacy and/or perceived security (Li, 2014;Lowry et al, 2011;Ray et al, 2011). Ray et al (2011), besides studying these antecedents, analyzed the influence of perceived privacy and security on consumers' perceived trust in online transactions.…”

Tales from the Dark Side: Privacy Dark Strategies and Privacy Dark Patterns

“…Past research in fact shows the importance of cognitive information processing for privacy issues (e.g., [8,32,34]). Knijnenburg and colleagues [31], for instance, document that people automatically provide personal information on website forms when an autocompletion feature fills out forms by default with previously stored values.…”