Unpacking the process of privacy management and self-disclosure from the perspectives of regulatory focus and privacy calculus

Abstract

Through the integration of the perspectives from regulatory focus theory and privacy calculus, this study built a model to distinguish between two forms of privacy antecedents (social awareness vs. privacy concerns and prior experience) and privacy behaviors (self-disclosure vs. privacy management). Using survey data collected from 525 active Facebook users, we found that promotion-focused privacy behavior (i.e., self-disclosure) is primarily determined by a promotion-related factor (benefits of social awareness), whereas prevention-focused ones (i.e., privacy management strategies) by prevention-related factors such as privacy concerns. Further, in line with the privacy calculus, we found a significant interaction effect between social awareness and privacy concerns on privacy management strategies. Their effects also vary across privacy management strategies that users employ at different usage stages. The findings demonstrate the utility of our novel research model in examining the dynamic, goal-oriented, and temporal nature of privacy management.