The Impact of Relative Standards on the Propensity to Disclose
Abstract
Two sets of studies illustrate the comparative nature of disclosure behavior. The first set investigates how divulgence is affected by signals about others' readiness to divulge and shows a “herding” effect: Survey respondents are more willing to divulge sensitive information when told that previous respondents have made sensitive disclosures (Study 1a). The authors provide evidence of the process underlying this effect and rule out alternative explanations by showing that information on others' propensity to disclose affects respondents' discomfort associated with divulgence (Study 1b) but not their interpretation of the questions (Study 1c). The second set of studies investigates how divulgence is affected by the order in which inquiries of varying intrusiveness are made and suggests that divulgence is anchored by the initial questions in a survey. People are particularly likely to divulge when questions are presented in decreasing order of intrusiveness and less likely when questions are presented in increasing order (Study 2a). The authors show that the effect arises by affecting people's judgments of the intrusiveness of the inquiries (Study 2b). The effect is altered when, at the outset of the study, privacy concerns are primed (Study 2c) and when respondents are made to consider the relative intrusiveness of a different set of questions (Study 2d). This research helps illuminate how consumers' propensity to disclose is affected by continual streams of requests for personal information and by the equally unavoidable barrage of personal information about others.
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“Empirical research has identified several reasons that help partially explain the privacy paradox, including contextual pressure [1], incorrect or incomplete understanding of the privacy risks [9, 93], and the tradeoffs between immediate benefits and long-term risks [31, 39, 65].”
- Authors
- Acquisti, A., John, L. K., & Loewenstein, G.
- Affiliations
- Information Systems and Public Policy, Heinz College
- Harvard University (US)
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Acquisti, Alessandro
- John, Leslie K.
- Loewenstein, George
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-04
- Volume
- 49
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 160-174
- ISSN
- 0022-2437 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7193
- OpenAlex
- W1986518351
- Cited by
- 247
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 36.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Survey Methodology and Nonresponse
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- disclosure behavior, sensitive data, herding effect, anchoring, privacy concerns, consumer privacy
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