Internet Privacy : A look into the construct of Privacy Knowledge

Abstract: Background:                With the increasing use of personalized marketing and the increasing ability to collect information on consumers, the consumers’ concern of privacy is increasing. Therefore it is important to understand what effects privacy concern, and how marketers can minimize this concern. Previous research suggest that factors such as computer knowledge, internet knowledge, and regulation awareness all affect privacy concern, however we believe that these are all related to each other in a construct we call Privacy Knowledge. Purpose:                        To investigate the construct of Privacy Knowledge and to what degree it influences a consumer’s attitude towards informational privacy. Method:                        In order to validate the Privacy Knowledge construct and measure its relationship to Privacy Concern we employed a deductive methodology which was comprised of questionnaires. The questionnaires were composed of summative Likert Scales, three of which had been previous validated by previous research. We utilized a quota sampling technique in order to gather enough data from each age group. The results were then analyzed by tools such as Factor Analysis, ANOVA tests, and Multiple Regression Analysis. Conclusion:                   Through the Factor Analysis we found that the factors Internet Knowledge, Computer Knowledge, and Regulation Awareness were better organized as Basic IT Knowledge, Advanced IT Knowledge and Regulation Awareness. Privacy Knowledge was found to be positively related to Privacy Concern. However we could only conclude of the three factors which make up Privacy Knowledge, Basic IT Knowledge had an effect on Privacy Concern. We believe this is due to the exclusion of other factors affecting Privacy Concern such as situational factors and suggest conducting further research on the matter including these variables.