Experience, comfort, and privacy concerns: antecedents of online spending

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine antecedents of consumer online spending.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 766 college students in the USA completed surveys using intercept interviews on a college campus. The research examines the consumer's level of technological savvy, experience with online shopping, level of confidence that online activities are not monitored, worry about other parties obtaining credit card information, comfort providing personal information online, and concern for online privacy when predicting the amount a consumer will spend online.

Findings

The findings reveal that consumer experience with online shopping and level of comfort with providing personal information online were significant predictors of the amount spent online. Surprisingly, privacy concerns were not a significant factor in online spending.

Practical implications

The results provide useful information to online marketers and privacy advocates by revealing factors that influence the amount spent by consumers via the internet.

Originality/value

This paper fills an identified gap in the literature on online shopping in that most research to date has either focused on regulatory issues or consumer demographics related to online privacy concerns.

Citation

Spake, D.F., Zachary Finney, R. and Joseph, M. (2011), "Experience, comfort, and privacy concerns: antecedents of online spending", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 5-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/17505931111121507