Rethinking information privacy-security: does it really matter?

摘要

This paper reports some of the findings of a bigger studythat examined the role of technological, individual, cultural,and informational traits in shaping the intention to buy andsell online. The focus of this paper is on informationprivacy-security and its role in online buying and selling.The research problem in this study was examined using thestatistical method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).Students at a Midwestern university in the U.S. served asthe sample population. It was interesting to find thatinformation privacy-security was perceived differently bythe participants in online buying to those involved in onlineselling. Examination of different demographic traits alsoshed light on the relationship between these traits andinformation privacy-security for instance, females arefound to be more concerned about information privacysecurity;more international students regarded informationprivacy as an impediment in their potential use of the Webfor selling. In addition, the role of culture in moderating therelationship between information privacy-security and theintention to buy and sell online was also examined. Despitethe importance of information privacy-security, as alsodemonstrated in literature, its impact on intention in thisstudy remained inconclusive. This finding along withfindings in relation to demographics and culture raisesimportant questions for future research on informationprivacy-security.