Purpose

This study examines how the different dimensions of a privacy policy separately influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy, as well as the mediating mechanisms behind these effects (i.e. vulnerability, benevolence). In addition, this study considers privacy concern as a significant moderator in the research model, to examine if the relative influences of privacy policy content are contingent upon levels of users' privacy concern.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey experiment was conducted to empirically validate the model. Specifically, three survey experiments and six scenarios were designed to manipulate high and low levels of the three privacy policy dimensions (i.e. transparency, control and protection). The authors totally distributed 450 copies of the questionnaire, of which 407 were valid.

Findings

This paper found that (1) all the three privacy policy dimensions directly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy; (2) all the three privacy policy dimensions indirectly influence perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by enhancing perceived corporate benevolence, whereas control also affects perceived effectiveness of privacy policy by reducing perceived vulnerability; and (3) individuals with high-privacy concern are much more impacted by privacy policy contents than individuals with low-privacy concern.

Practical implications

The findings could provide website managers with guidelines on how to design privacy policy contents by reducing user perceptions of vulnerability and enhancing user perceptions of corporate benevolence. The managers need to focus on customers' perceived vulnerability and corporate benevolence when launching or updating privacy policies. Furthermore, the managers also need to attend to users' privacy concerns, especially for multinational companies or companies with specific consumer groups.

Originality/value

This study extends the current privacy policy literature by articulating the separate influences of the three privacy policy dimensions and their impact mechanisms on perceived effectiveness of privacy policy. It also uncovers privacy concerns as a boundary condition that influence the effects of privacy policy contents on users' privacy perceptions.

中文翻译：

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隐私政策内容对隐私政策感知有效性的影响：脆弱性、仁慈与隐私关注的作用

目的

本研究考察了隐私政策的不同维度如何分别影响隐私政策的感知有效性，以及这些影响背后的中介机制（即脆弱性、仁慈性）。此外，本研究将隐私关注视为研究模型中的一个重要调节因素，以检验隐私政策内容的相对影响是否取决于用户的隐私关注水平。

设计/方法/方法

进行了调查实验以对模型进行实证验证。具体而言，设计了三个调查实验和六个场景来操纵三个隐私政策维度（即透明度、控制和保护）的高低水平。作者共发放问卷450份，其中有效407份。

发现

本文发现：（1）隐私政策的三个维度都直接影响隐私政策的感知有效性；(2) 所有三个隐私政策维度都通过增强感知的企业善意间接影响隐私政策的感知有效性，而控制也通过减少感知脆弱性来影响隐私政策的感知有效性；(3) 隐私关注度高的个人比隐私关注度低的人更容易受到隐私政策内容的影响。

实际影响

这些发现可以为网站管理员提供有关如何通过减少用户对漏洞的感知和增强用户对企业善意的感知来设计隐私政策内容的指南。管理者在发布或更新隐私政策时需要关注客户感知到的脆弱性和企业的善意。此外，管理者还需要关注用户的隐私问题，特别是对于跨国公司或具有特定消费群体的公司。

原创性/价值

本研究通过阐明三个隐私政策维度的单独影响及其对隐私政策感知有效性的影响机制，扩展了当前的隐私政策文献。它还揭示了隐私问题作为影响隐私政策内容对用户隐私感知影响的边界条件。