engleski

Citizens’ privacy concerns: does national culture matter?

This study is an integral part of the large research project aiming to develop a comprehensive integrated model of privacy concern in the online environment and empirically test it to provide deeper understanding of various interactions between antecedents, concerns and consequences of online privacy. The research objectives will initially be achieved by identifying and developing (i) a comprehensive list of antecedents such as demographic factors (e.g. gender, education), experience factors (e.g. internet use experience, web expertise) and social-psychological factors (values, attitudes, culture norms), and (ii) a comprehensive list of consequences of online privacy concern on individual-user level. Within this wider research framework, our intuition is that cultural characteristics of a society determine the level of privacy concern. Such soft indicators are often used in studies explaining individual set of values, working habits, and other behaviour patterns of individuals. However, it has not been observed if cultural attributes of a nation shape citizens perceptions on privacy related issues. We will empirically test dimensions of national culture as antecedents of privacy concern. For this purpose we will construct index of privacy concern and national cultural dimensions indicators and examine their interrelations. Both set of indicators will be created using the data collected in two public surveys in Croatia. Testing the model on the Croatian citizens’ population is seen as an appropriate way to empirically test the concept and interrelations, especially as it concerns a middle-developed EU country that constitutes a part of the digital society. Privacy concern index will be obtained from survey data exploring public attitudes towards privacy and behaviour patterns when taking different roles and actions related to the privacy infringement, surveillance and data protection in Croatia (Budak et al., 2013). Hofstede's (1980) seminal work points to the way in which certain national cultures determine the way in which businesses in different countries and parts of the world are organised and operate. Our empirical research will employ survey data collected in accordance with the Hofstede methodology on national cultural dimensions (http://geert-hofstede.com/) at the large net sample of 1500 citizens. Indicators for defined five dimensions of national cultures (Power Distance, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Masculinity vs. Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-Term Orientation) will be constructed. In the next step, national culture indicators will be compared to privacy concern index on a regional level. Our empirical study will examine if and which national culture dimensions would have impact to the privacy concern, and therefore should be included into the set of socio-psychological factors in the extended model of privacy concern. Academic literature recognizes privacy concern as a growing issue in the digital age, especially for new EU member states and post-transition countries. The impact of a rather traumatic transformation, marked by considerable distrust in institutions, speaks to a number of Hofstede's national cultural dimensions, notably regarding the distribution of power and resources, the balance between individualist and collectivist values, and the threat felt when facing uncertain or unknown situations. The research will contribute to the final definition of integrated theoretical framework of online privacy concern. The additional project outcomes are policy implications and recommendations for regulatory control, internet users policy and business strategies.

privacy concern; culture; survey; Croatia

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