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The descriptive results for information disclosure show that males on average are somewhat more likely to reveal information than females however a hypothesis test was done to determine if there are significant differences between male and female Facebook users.
Table 3 summarises the means and standard deviation of items that measured the second construct namely, online privacy concerns.
TABLE 3: MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTS ONLINE PRIVACY CONCERNS Mean
Std. Deviation
Online privacy concern items measured 1. Consumer online privacy is really a matter of consumers’ right to exercise control over decisions about how their information is collected, used, and shared.
2. Consumer control of personal information lies at the heart of consumer privacy.
3. I believe that online privacy is invaded when control is lost or unwillingly reduced as a result of a marketing transaction.
4. Companies seeking information online should disclose the way the data are collected, processed, and used.
5. A good consumer online privacy policy should have a clear and visible disclosure.
6. It is very important to me that I am aware and knowledgeable about how my personal information will be used.
7. It bothers me when online companies ask me for personal information.
8. When online companies ask me for personal information, I think twice before providing it.
9. It bothers me to give personal information to so many online companies.
10. I am concerned that online companies are collecting too much personal information about me.
From Table 3 a profile of the respondents’ responses in terms of the individual items measuring the constructs online privacy concern is provided. The item that indicates the highest concern for online privacy concern is “It is very important to me that I am aware and knowledgeable about how my personal information will be used.” (M = 6.33, SD = 1.173) and the item with the lowest concern is “I am concerned that online companies are collecting too much personal information about me” (M = 5.59, SD = 1.342).
The means suggest that respondents are most concerned about the use of their personal information as they might be unsure of how this information will be used. This might indicate that Facebook should explicitly inform users what their information will be used for and allow for the respondents to remove some of his/her information should they decide to do so. Interestingly, when referring to the means of the item with the lowest concern which indicates that respondents are least concerned about the amount of information being collected. This might translate to the fact that in the context of Facebook the individual decides what they would like to share and disclose and therefore might perceive this to translate in having some control over this item.
Respondent’s online privacy concerns by gender show that male and female online privacy concerns are similar; however on average females seem to have a higher concern than males. The next section discusses the hypotheses tests to answer three of the objectives stated above.
INFORMATION DISCLOSURE AND ONLINE PRIVACY CONCERNS AMONGST FACEBOOK USERS 1098