The Complex Web of Values: The Impact on Online Privacy Concerns and Purchase Behavior

1. IntroductionIn this digital age, the proliferation of consumer engagement with online channels has engendered ubiquitous transmission and collection of consumer information online. The accompanying rise in concern for online privacy is evidenced by lawsuits against companies that violate online privacy (such as Google Buzz or Facebook) as well as by consumer behaviors and attitudes. For example, online sales totaled $142.5 billion in 2010, a 9.8% increase from the previous year [Davis 2011], yet only 4% of retail sales are done online [US Census Bureau 2011]. This is surprising given the pervasiveness of Internet usage among Americans [Pew Research Center 2013]. While there are several reasons why a consumer may choose more traditional channels over the Internet for purchases, there is empirical evidence that online privacy concerns specifically will deter consumers from making purchases online [McCole et al. 2010]. Researchers have devoted considerable attention to understanding consumers' outlooks on privacy concerns. Junglas et al. [2008] recently pointed out that it is primarily technological advances that have sparked consumer concerns for privacy. Hence, research often focuses on privacy in a technological or, specifically, online context. Researchers have explored how attitudes toward privacy in an online context are shaped by the type of personal information requested [Malhotra et al. 2004; Phelps et al. 2000], the quality of the personalization/customization made possible through information divulgence [Li & Unger 2012], the amount of information control offered [Eastlick et al. 2006; Phelps et al. 2000], and consumer characteristics [Junglas et al. 2008; Punj 2011; Sheehan 2002; Sheehan & Hoy 1999]. Demographic differences have been the most frequently examined consumer characteristics [Miltgen & Peyrat-Guillard 2014; Punj 2011; Sheehan 2002], even though consumer values rather than demographics are known to be a better predictor of consumer behavior [Kahle 1983]. This is also shown in examinations of consumer values in other marketing streams [Burroughs & Rindfleisch 2002; Xiao & Kim 2009]. Understanding the relationship between consumer values and privacy concerns is important because it expands understanding of the way that values influence behaviors in the online context. Moreover, it would begin to offer insight into the mechanisms behind consumer online preferences and decisions which research has already uncovered. For example, it has been shown that consumers are reluctant to give up their information [Milne & Boza 1999; Phelps et al. 2001], but are willing to do so in exchange for superior and more customized service [Dinev & Hart 2006; Goodwin 1991; Mothersbaugh et al. 2012]. However, it is not necessarily clear why this is so.This study will examine how beliefs surrounding consumers' privacy concerns originate from consumer values. We focus on the value of religiosity in particular because it is a value which can formally specify daily practices, behavioral routines, and life choices [Hogg et al. 2010]. Further, it can also be an "all-embracing" component of selfidentity [Hogg et al. 2010, p. 72]. We argue that religiosity impacts privacy concerns because of the negative ties between religiosity and materialism. While existing studies have linked religious values to materialism [e.g. Burroughs & Rindfleisch 2002; Pace 2013], we find differential effects on materialism between two manifestations of religiosity: extrinsic and intrinsic.We next argue that materialism, or the belief that possessions are important in one's life [Richins & Dawson 1992], is an antecedent of online privacy concern since the importance of worldly goods to the materialistic [Belk 1985] is likely to be more salient than other goals (such as information protection) when purchasin g online. There is, indeed, evidence that materialistic consumers are more willing to divulge information online [Ward et al. …