Communicating the protection of information privacy

Abstract

The world economic system’s transformation from a dominant mass-production modelto a mass-customisation model is seen to have created a demand for personal informationfrom consumers. This has led to many consumers feeling the need to protect theirinformation as businesses request increasingly more personal information duringcommercial transactions. This conceptual paper addresses information privacy as aninter-disciplinary issue that affects relationships at micro, macro and global levels.First at micro level, addressing the value perception of information among consumersand marketers; secondly at macro level, illustrating the role of the government inprotecting information privacy; and thirdly at global level, since the flow of informationplays a major role in eliminating boundaries between countries. Finally, the managerialimplications of information privacy are discussed, concluding that effective customerrelations now require businesses to communicate in ways that make their customersfeel protected.