A privacy calculus model perspective that explains why parents sharent

Abstract

ABSTRACT Parents sharing children’s information online without permission has posed a threat to children’s privacy and identity safety. While previous studies on sharenting have employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore factors that influence parents’ engagement in sharenting behaviors, there is still a need for a formative theoretical model to explain the underlying mechanism. Drawing on a rich body of sharenting and privacy literature, this study employs the privacy calculus model to investigate what factors explain parents’ sharenting behaviors by collecting data from 500 parents. Results show that privacy concerns and privacy self-efficacy have positive relationships with sharenting behaviors, whereas self-presentation has a negative relationship with sharenting. The results indicate that parents who have more confidence in privacy knowledge and protection are more aware of the potential risks, more confident in the effectiveness of protection measures, and more likely to sharent. Limitations and implications for social media companies and parents are also discussed.