“Disengaged Consumers: Privacy Notices Lead to Suspicion”
by Zeynep Gürhan Canlı
Koç University
Place: MA-330
Abstract
In the digital landscape, consumers are frequently asked to make decisions regarding the privacy of their data. In this research, we aim to provide insights regarding consumers’ experiences in making these privacy decisions. With a multi-method approach including text analysis, a six-year span of field and quasi-field experiments, and online experiments, we demonstrate that privacy notices activate consumers’
persuasion knowledge and trigger suspicion, ultimately leading to disengagement with the brand. Designing the choice architecture or privacy notice content in a way that reduces suspicion can decrease disengagement. The effect mitigates for consumers who are not knowledgeable about the persuasion tactics of marketers. Our findings deepen our understanding of consumers’ experiences and offer actionable insights for marketers, consumers, and policy makers.
Bio
Prof.Gürhan Canlı’s research is in the area of consumer behavior and focuses on consumer information processing and experiences. Her research has primarily addressed important managerial issues in the context of brand image, corporate image, corporate responsibility, and country-of-origin information, and more recently consumer-technology interaction. She completed her Ph.D. in marketing at New York University, Stern School of Business in 1997. Prior to joining Koç University, she was a faculty member at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, where she was tenured in 2003. She has published several articles in leading academic journals such as Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology. She received a number of awards, served as an area editor/associate editor of leading journals. She is currently on the Editorial Review Boards of the International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of International Marketing, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. She served as the Director of the Graduate School of Business, Dean of the College of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Acting President at Koç University.
