Relationship between customers' online shopping behavior and personal information disclosure

Abstract

With the rapid development of the Internet and continuous improvement of the e-commerce platform, online shopping has gained popularity among customers in China. Consequently, protecting customers' personal information is of concern. However, previous studies have focused on self-disclosure of personal information unlike this study. This study addresses this problem and analyzes the main factors and means of personal information disclosure in the online shopping process through a stringent statistical process with a suitable sample size. It examines the impact of factors generated from related previous research on customers' personal information disclosure. Based on the research model, questionnaires are developed and a survey is conducted to collect sample data (n=370), targeting Chinese online shopping customers. The findings indicate that information significance and website reputation have a positive influence, whereas trust has a negative influence on protective behavior intention, which in turn negatively influences information disclosure. This study can contribute to research on customers' privacy protection and also the legal usage of customer information by shopping platform operators and sellers in the online shopping market.