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.
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