Web Site Privacy Policy Statements: How They Impact Consumer Trust
Date of Graduation
Fall 2004
Degree
Master of Science in Computer Information Systems
Department
Information Technology and Cybersecurity
Committee Chair
David Meinert
Abstract
Consumers' concerns about information privacy are a primary obstacle to the success of e-commerce. The adoption of privacy policy statements by Web site operators is a direct response to this concern. This exploratory study examined the impact of Web site privacy policy statements on consumer trust. The willingness of consumers to provide various types of personal information given varying degrees of protection offered by privacy policy statements was examined. The influence of other factors such as privacy policy statement compliance audits by third parties, the presence of security software and reputation of the organization operating the Web site were also examined. The results demonstrated that both the nature of the information requested and level of privacy guaranteed by the statements influences consumer willingness to provide information via Web sites. In general, the stronger the protections afforded by the privacy policy statement the more willing respondents were to provide information online. The results also demonstrated that consumer willingness to provide information online is influenced by the nature of information being collected. Surprisingly, the results suggest that less than one-half of Internet users have ever read a privacy statement.
Keywords
consumer privacy, e-commerce, Web sites, trust, consumer behavior, privacy policy, Internet
Subject Categories
Management Information Systems
Copyright
© John R. Criswell II
Recommended Citation
Criswell, John R. II, "Web Site Privacy Policy Statements: How They Impact Consumer Trust" (2004). MSU Graduate Theses. 2038.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2038
Open Access