Youth's online privacy concerns and responses : an application of protection motivation model in China.

• Main Author: Wu, Shanshan.
• Other Authors: May Oo Lwin
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Communication::Communication theories and models
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/20734
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the development of internet, online teenagers are exposed to an atmosphere that is full of attraction and fun. However, they showed little concern of online privacy and do not feel that they are in need of protection. We used the protection motivation model to examine online privacy concerns and coping responses of teenagers in China. To probe into the problem addressed in the paper, we conducted a survey with 255 high school students aged from 16 to 19 in Jiangsu Province. Results of the survey suggested that the assessment of self-efficacy and the evaluation of potential response costs are positively related to privacy protection motivation. We also found that social norms, especially peer norms, influence teenagers’ own privacy concerns and protection motivations, therefore we suggested an increased need to educate teenagers in order to make full use of interpersonal communication’s impact on them. Above all, this study serves as one of the pioneer efforts to study online privacy related issues of Chinese teenagers, and we use the findings of this research to provide implications for both educators and marketers.