Choice Architecture, Framing, and Cascaded Privacy Choices

AboutSectionsView PDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Go to Section HomeManagement ScienceVol. 65, No. 5 Choice Architecture, Framing, and Cascaded Privacy ChoicesIdris Adjerid , Alessandro Acquisti , George LoewensteinIdris Adjerid , Alessandro Acquisti , George LoewensteinPublished Online:5 Nov 2018https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3028AbstractFor consumers, managing privacy online requires navigating a complex process of interrelated choices. This process may be conceived of as “cascaded,” in that a combination of upstream choices (e.g., of privacy settings on a social network site) and downstream choices (e.g., of what to reveal on the site) together determine ultimate privacy outcomes. In a series of experiments, we examine the potential impact of choice architecture in cascaded privacy choice settings. We investigate how changes in choice frames implemented by service providers can influence consumers’ upstream disclosure settings, often in ways that they are unaware of and that may be destructive to them. Whether the effects of choice frames upstream are ultimately detrimental to individuals’ privacy, however, depends on whether they are offset by more or less protective downstream choices. Thus, we also examine whether such upstream effects of choice architecture are “mitigated” through changes in downstream self-disclosure. We find, first, that various manipulations of decision frames, common in privacy contexts, significantly impact participants’ upstream choice of disclosure settings. Second, we do not find evidence that the impact of choice architecture upstream is mitigated downstream: participants’ self-disclosure rates do not adjust or change in response to choice architecture-induced changes in upstream choices. These findings call into question both policy makers’ and industry advocates’ reliance on choice-based privacy protection mechanisms, contribute to an emerging behavioral perspective on privacy decision making, and highlight the importance of accounting for the cascaded nature of privacy decision making in both policy and managerial settings.This paper was accepted by Uri Gneezy, behavioral economics. Previous Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformationCited byThe Decoy Effect and Recommendation SystemsNasim Mousavi, Panagiotis Adamopoulos, Jesse Bockstedt13 January 2023 | Information Systems Research, Vol. 0, No. 0Valuing Intrinsic and Instrumental Preferences for PrivacyTesary Lin13 May 2022 | Marketing Science, Vol. 41, No. 4Gain-Loss Incentives and Physical Activity: The Role of Choice and Wearable Health ToolsIdris Adjerid, George Loewenstein, Rachael Purta, Aaron Striegel28 May 2021 | Management Science, Vol. 68, No. 4“I” Am Willing to Disclose, but “We” are Unwilling: The Impact of Self-Construal on Individuals’ Willingness to Disclose1 December 2021 | Psychology Research and Behavior Management, Vol. Volume 14Critical roles of knowledge and motivation in privacy researchCurrent Opinion in Psychology, Vol. 31Policy Proposals for PIPEDA Reform to Address Artificial IntelligenceSSRN Electronic JournalValuing Intrinsic and Instrumental Preferences for PrivacySSRN Electronic JournalConsumer Consent and Firm Targeting after GDPR: The Case of a Large Telecom ProviderSSRN Electronic Journal Volume 65, Issue 5May 2019Pages 1949-2443 Article Information Metrics Information Received:January 12, 2017Accepted:November 02, 2017Published Online:November 05, 2018 Copyright © 2018, INFORMSCite asIdris Adjerid, Alessandro Acquisti, George Loewenstein (2018) Choice Architecture, Framing, and Cascaded Privacy Choices. Management Science 65(5):2267-2290. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3028 Keywordschoice architectureprivacy decision makingframingbehavior and behavioral decision makingPDF download