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AIS Newsletter |
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IS SECTION / AMERICAN ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATION. |
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In the Literature : IT Assurance and Privacy |
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Dan J. Kim, Charles Steinfield, and Ying-Ju Lai, 2008. Revisiting the Role of Web Assurance Seals in Business-to-Consumer Electronic Commerce, Decision Support Systems, Volume 44, Issue 4, pp. 1000-1015, March.
The authors state that there is conflicting evidence as to the current level of awareness and impact of Web Assurance Seal Services (WASSs). This study examines the effects of an educational intervention designed to increase consumer's knowledge, of security and privacy aspect of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce websites and assurance seal services. The study further explores the relationships among consumers' perceptions about online security, including WASSs awareness, importance of WASS, privacy concerns, security concerns, and information quality, before and after the educational intervention. The study finds that educating consumers about the security and privacy dangers of the web, as well as the role of web assurance seals, does increase their awareness and perceived importance of the seals. However, despite this increased awareness, there is little association between these assurance seals and the two indicators of trustworthiness, concerns about privacy and perceived information quality, of an e-commerce site, even after the intervention. Only security concerns have a statistically significant relationship with WASSs awareness before and after the educational intervention. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Il-Horn Hann, Hui Kai-Lung, Tom Lee Sang-Yong, P.L. Ivan, 2007. Overcoming Online Information Privacy Concerns: An Information-Processing Theory Approach. Journal of Management Information Systems, Volume 24, Issue 2, pp. 13-42, Fall.
The authors state that the advent of the Internet has made the transmission of personally identifiable information more common and often unintended by the user. As personal information becomes more accessible, individuals worry that businesses misuse the information that is collected while they are online. Organizations have tried to mitigate this concern in two ways: (1) by offering privacy policies regarding the handling and use of personal information and (2) by offering benefits such as financial gains or convenience. In this paper, the authors interpret these actions in the context of the information-processing theory of motivation. Information-processing theories, also known as expectancy theories in the context of motivated behavior, are built on the premise that people process information about behavior--outcome relationships. By doing so, they are forming expectations and making decisions about what behavior to choose. Using an experimental setting, the authors empirically validate predictions that the means to mitigate privacy concerns are associated with positive valences resulting in an increase in motivational score. In a conjoint analysis exercise, 268 participants from the United States and Singapore face trade-off situations, where an organization may only offer incomplete privacy protection or some benefits. While privacy protections (against secondary use, improper access, and error) are associated with positive valences, the authors also find that financial gains and convenience can significantly increase individuals' motivational score of registering with a Web site. The authors find that benefits--monetary reward and future convenience--significantly affect individuals' preferences over Web sites with differing privacy policies. The authors also quantify the value of Web site privacy protection.
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