Abstract:

The increasing ability of online vendors to collect, store and distribute information on consumers has been paralleled by an increase in information privacy concerns among consumers and those who shape public policy. This lack of confidence in information privacy has been identified as a major factor impeding the potential and growth of electronic commerce. It is therefore essential for the success of business-to-consumer electronic commerce that online vendors understand the information privacy concerns of their consumers and take action to alleviate these concerns. This paper describes a study that employed the IUIPC in order to investigate the specific factors that influence Irish online consumers’ privacy concerns, and examines the causal relationship between privacy concerns and trust beliefs, risk perceptions, and behavioural intention to impart with personal information. Moreover, as the IUIPC model has previously been tested only in the United States, this test of the model is the first of its type in Europe. Consequently, the degree to which the model is culture independent and its potential for use by other researchers interested in investigating online privacy concerns is an issue that is also discussed in this paper. The findings of the research outlined in this paper will have implications on a number of levels: First, the study results will provide online vendors with insight into the key dimensions of privacy that are valued by Irish online consumers. Second, it will show the degree to which specific dimensions of online privacy act as antecedents of consumer trust in online vendors and influence their intention to impart with personal information. Third, it will indicate the applicability of the IUIPC survey instrument in measuring information privacy concerns in a European context. Finally, it will contribute to the extant body of work on Internet users’ information privacy concerns from an Information Systems perspective, providing a point of reference for future cross-cultural comparisons. It is anticipated that these contributions will assist practitioners, researchers, and those involved in the shaping of public policy in developing an understanding of the factors that contribute towards alleviating the privacy concerns of online consumers and thus contribute towards the success of electronic commerce.