Affiliation:
1. Louisiana Tech University, USA
Abstract
Prior research on privacy protective behaviors has found that online users irrationally trade protection for convenience, and so act against their own privacy preferences. The present article uses expectancy-confirmation theory (ECT) models to explain the continuance behavioral intentions of online users toward privacy-protection practices. It redefines convenience to highlight human behaviors involved in various stages of implementing privacy practices processes. The results show that earlier privacy practice experiences impact the present as well as the future protective behaviors of users, and that convenience-orientation is an important aspect of human nature that should not be inhibited by complex privacy practices. Therefore, to serve online users better, both researchers and practitioners should consider the personal perceptions of convenience of online users when constructing their privacy practices.