Is knowledge power? Testing whether knowledge affects chilling effects and privacy-protective behaviors using browser histories

Abstract

This study examines whether providing users with declarative and procedural privacy knowledge positively affects behaviors to safeguard their privacy. Two forms of coping behaviors were in focus: Measures that reduce data collection by technological means (privacy-protective behaviors) and self-restraint in the use of online services (chilling effect-related behaviors). We hypothesized that a combination of declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge as opposed to declarative knowledge alone increases privacy-protective behaviors while being less likely to induce chilling effect-related behaviors. Data were obtained using an experimental study design combined with browser histories. Individuals were exposed to video treatments providing them with a) declarative knowledge or b) a combination of declarative and procedural knowledge, while the control group received no treatment. The study attracted a total of N = 500 participants for self-report data and N = 252 participants with data donations from a student sample in Austria. The findings indicate that both knowledge treatments increased recipients' privacy concerns. Furthermore, the declarative and procedural knowledge treatment increased participants’ self-efficacy. However, increasing knowledge did not translate into more pronounced privacy behaviors. Tentative evidence suggests that privacy fatigue might play a particularly important role in explaining these null findings.