Unlocking Privacy Paradox in Social Media from a Configurational Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACTBased on the privacy calculus theory, users’ decision‐making on privacy disclosure was traditionally viewed as a trade‐off between perceived values and privacy concerns. However, recent studies suggest that the impacts of users’ cognitive style and platform trust cannot be ignored in the context of social media platforms. From a configurational perspective, this study explores how these factors collectively affect users’ privacy disclosure. Data from 452 respondents on a Chinese social media platform were collected through an online survey. The results suggested that users’ decision‐making on privacy disclosure in social media is a complex process involving different configurations. For field‐dependent individuals, the trade‐off between perceived values and privacy concerns is less important than the role of cognitive style. For field‐independent individuals, beyond the trade‐off between perceived values in different dimensions and privacy concerns, their decisions are also contingent on platform trust.