Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

submittedVersion

Publication Date

12-2019

Abstract

Privacy research has debated whether privacy decision-making is determined by users' stable preferences (i.e., individual traits), privacy calculus (i.e., cost-benefit analysis), or “responses on the spot” that vary across contexts. This study focuses on two factors—default setting as a contextual factor and regulatory focus as an individual difference factor—and examines the degree to which these factors affect social media users' decision-making when using privacy preference settings in a fictitious social networking site. The results, based on two experimental studies (study 1, n = 414; study 2, n = 213), show that default settings significantly affect users' privacy preferences, such that users choose the defaults or alternatives proximal to them. Study 2 shows that regulatory focus also affects privacy decisions, such that users with a strong promotion focus select options favoring a higher social networking utility, perceiving lesser cognitive efforts and more confidence in decisions. Finally, we find a significant interaction effect between default setting and regulatory focus on perceived effort and confidence, suggesting that the default effect is contingent on users’ goal orientations (operationalized as regulatory focus). We discuss the implications for research and practice.

Keywords

Privacy, Default effect, Regulatory focus, Social media

Discipline

Business and Corporate Communications | Social Media

Research Areas

Corporate Communication

Publication

Computers in Human Behavior

Volume

101

First Page

1

Last Page

13

ISSN

0747-5632

Identifier

10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.001

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.001

Download

Share

COinS