The need for measurement instruments for privacy concern is twofold. First, attitudes and opinions about data protection cannot be established and compared without reliable mechanisms. Second, behavioural studies, notably in technology acceptance and the behavioural economics of privacy require measures for concern as a moderating factor. In its first part, this paper provides a comprehensive review of existing survey instruments for measuring privacy concerns. The second part focuses on revealed preferences that can be used for opportunistically measuring privacy concerns in the wild or for scale validation. Recommendations for scale selection and reuse are provided.
| Construct | Cites | Category | Questions given? | Content validity | Pretests | Response type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| concern for information privacy | Smith et al., 1996 | no | 7-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree" | ||||
| privacy concern | Sheehan, 2000 | no | 7-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all concerned" to "extremely concerned" | ||||
| Internet users' information privacy concerns (IUIPC) | Malhotra et al., 2004 | no | |||||
| online privacy concern | Buchanan et al., 2007 | no | 5-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all" to "very much" | ||||
| privacy concern about online practices | Earp et al., 2005 | no | 5-point Likert scale ranging from "not at all concerned" to "extremely concerned" | ||||
| privacy concern information finding | Dinev, 2004 | no | 5-point likert scales | ||||
| privacy concern information abuse | Dinev, 2004 | no | 5-point likert scales | ||||
| privacy attitudes | Braunstein et al., 2011 | no | 6-point Likert scale ranging from "very likely" to "never" | ||||
| privacy concern | Culnan, 1999 | no | dichotomous (yes/no) | ||||
| privacy concern | Chellappa, 2005 | no | 7-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree" | ||||
| Privacy Preference Scale | Marshall, 1974 | no | |||||
| Willingness to disclose items of personal data | Mothersbaugh et al., 2012 | no |
Sören Preibusch. Guide to measuring privacy concern: Review of survey and observational instruments. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 71(12):1133–1143, December 2013. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2013.09.002.
@article{preibusch_guide_2013,
abstract = {The debate about online privacy gives testimony of Web users' concerns. Privacy concerns make consumers adopt data protection features, guide their appreciation for existing features, and can steer their consumption choices amongst competing businesses. However, approaches to measure privacy concern are fragmented and often ad-hoc, at the detriment of reliable results. The need for measurement instruments for privacy concern is twofold. First, attitudes and opinions about data protection cannot be established and compared without reliable mechanisms. Second, behavioural studies, notably in technology acceptance and the behavioural economics of privacy require measures for concern as a moderating factor. In its first part, this paper provides a comprehensive review of existing survey instruments for measuring privacy concerns. The second part focuses on revealed preferences that can be used for opportunistically measuring privacy concerns in the wild or for scale validation. Recommendations for scale selection and reuse are provided.},
author = {Preibusch, S\"oren},
doi = {10.1016/j.ijhcs.2013.09.002},
issn = {1071-5819},
journal = {International Journal of Human-Computer Studies},
month = {December},
number = {12},
pages = {1133-1143},
shorttitle = {Guide to Measuring Privacy Concern},
title = {Guide to Measuring Privacy Concern: {{Review}} of Survey and Observational Instruments},
volume = {71},
year = {2013}
}