What’s yours is (not) mine: Interdependent privacy and the role of social value orientation in sharing others’ data
(A2019-9548)

AUTHORS

Joris Demmers, Monash University; Andrea Weihrauch, University of Amsterdam; Frauke Mattison Thompson, University of Amsterdam

KEYWORDS

Interdependent privacy; Social value orientation;

ABSTRACT

Collecting information about consumers through their interdependent networks helps businesses gain a fuller understanding of their customers and design more compelling value propositions. We investigate the decisions consumers make about sharing other people’s personal information, which, to date, are not well understood as prior work has focused almost exclusively on the disclosure of consumers’ own data. We link social value orientation to privacy regulation theory, and find that, in contrast with current knowledge of the impact of social value orientation on behavior, proselfs - usually seeking to maximize individual gains - are less likely to share others’ data than prosocials, even if this reduces their individual gains. Our findings suggest that diverging perceptions of ownership over other people’s data may drive this effect. Overall, with this study we contribute to literature on social value orientation as well as privacy decision-making, and help marketers design disclosure terms that optimize customer value.