{"74018":{"#nid":"74018","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Companies Should Give Online Consumers More Privacy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo quell the privacy-invasion fears that are stunting the growth of e-commerce, Web marketers need to give consumers more control of the personal information collected about them, according to research by Naresh Malhotra, Regents\u0027 professor of marketing at Georgia Tech College of Management.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Despite the enormous potential of e-commerce, its share of the total economy remains less than 1 percent worldwide,\u0022 says Malhotra, lead researcher of the study \u0022Internet Users\u0027 Information Privacy Concerns (IUPIC): The Construct, the Scale, and a Causal Model,\u0022 which was recently published in the journal \u003Cem\u003EInformation Systems Research\u003C\/em\u003E. He cites a recent report showing that 94.5 percent of Americans worry about abuse of their personal information when they shop online.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMalhotra\u0027s study, which surveyed 742 households in one-on-one interviews, found that online consumers want to be aware of and have direct control over their personal information that is stored in marketers\u0027 databases. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Consumers should be able to add, delete or modify at will any of their personal information,\u0022 Malhotra says. \u0022At the very least, companies should make sure that their consumers can easily verify their information and know how it is being used.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EOnline marketers want as much personal information as possible in order to provide individualized service to customers, including details about shopping behavior, lifestyles and finances, he explains. For instance, airlines can e-mail people customized fare offers if they know their destination preferences. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This mass customization increases the efficiency of marketing and the value that customers can derive as long as marketers don\u0027t misuse the personal information collected,\u0022 Malhotra says.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMany e-commerce firms retain the right to sell personal information to outside parties unless consumers specifically opt out. \u0022Information should only be obtained from consumers in ways that don\u0027t violate any ethical or legal norms,\u0022 Malhotra says. \u0022Obtaining information without consent isn\u0027t appropriate.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EConsumers are more willing to provide information voluntarily if online companies can engender a sense of trust, the study found. One way to do this is through the use of increasingly popular third-party \u0022seal of approval\u0022 programs, such as the Better Business Bureau\u0027s BBBOnline, he says. Online vendors who want to participate in these programs must follow a set of standards concerning privacy and security.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to examining the control and trust issues of online consumers, Malhotra\u0027s study established a new scale for researchers to use in measuring the depth of Internet users\u0027 information privacy concerns. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETechnical Contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E Naresh Malhotra, 404-894-4358, \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Naresh.malhotra@mgt.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ENaresh.malhotra@mgt.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Tech study indicates Web marketers need to give consumers more control of the personal information collected about them"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"To quell the privacy-invasion fears that are stunting the growth of e-commerce, Web marketers need to give consumers more control of the personal information collected about them, according to research in the Georgia Tech College of Management.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Internet users want control of personal information"}],"uid":"27301","created_gmt":"2005-03-01 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:30","author":"Elizabeth Campell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2005-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2005-02-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"74019":{"id":"74019","type":"image","title":"Naresh Malhotra, Regents\u0027 professor of marketing a","body":null,"created":"1449178037","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:27:17","changed":"1475894686","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:46"}},"media_ids":["74019"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/mgt.gatech.edu\/index.html","title":"College of Management"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}