Testing the Effect of the Cookie Banners on Behaviour

摘要

We conducted a laboratory experiment (n=602) to test the effect on behaviour of six different cookie banner messages. These messages were based on four behavioural insights: defaults, information deficit model, protection motivation theory (PMT) and social norms. A control condition presented the traditional cookie banner message as recommended by the European Commission (EC). The behavioural measures were (a) the decision to accept cookies, (b) the decision to click on a link for more information about a website's cookie policy and (c) the time spent reading cookie policy pages. A default banner, which told participants that continuing to browse implied cookie acceptance, led to significantly higher cookie acceptance rates. Participants exposed to a message that included a combination of elements from PMT were less willing to click on a link for more information.