Verified Document

E-Marketing As A Threat To Privacy: Information Privacy Essay

¶ … Privacy: E-Marketing as a Threat to Privacy Privacy is one of the most complex issues facing e-commerce today. Due to advances in information technology, it is becoming harder for individuals to maintain control over their personal information. More specifically, the advent of the information age has brought with it numerous concerns particularly because the accessibility of the internet allows for easy collection, processing, storage and utilization of personal information by multiple parties, which they use to their own advantage (Pavlou, 977). When it comes to e-commerce, information privacy is also a major source of concern because firms make use of their websites to gather information about their consumers, and they utilize this information to develop marketing strategies and conduct customized promotions. One study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), for example, revealed that two thirds of all customers surveyed would embrace e-commerce more if they knew retail sites would not misuse their personal information (Willison and Warkentin, 2).

Defined as the concept of controlling how an individual's personal information can be used and controlled, information privacy can be viewed as both a moral and legal right (Pavlou, 978). The effects of information privacy concerns, therefore, can be felt by individuals at a personal level in their homes and even at their places of work. For instance, Willison and Warkentin give another example of a survey by PwC which established that employers viewed current and former employees as the biggest threat to information privacy within an organization (2). As e-marketers target consumers from wherever they are, capabilities of new electronics and their presence in homes have also allowed new classes of attacks by technology savvy burglars, in addition to facilitating traditional crimes (Denning, Konho and Levy, 95). It is therefore rather accurate to state that e-marketing is a threat to privacy and companies would benefit more if they guaranteed consumers the privacy of their personal information. To further analyze the effects of information privacy concerns, this text takes a look at reasons why e-marketing can be considered a threat to privacy and evaluates how the threat can be reduced.

E-marketing as a threat to privacy

E-marketing is the application of marketing techniques and principles...

It encompasses all activities that a firm uses to market its brand using the internet and to attract new customers while at the same time retaining its market share. E-marketing makes use of the three Vs brought about by the increased use of the internet. These are: volume, the ability to process large amounts of data; velocity, the high data flow rate; and variety, the availability of different forms of data from a variety of sources (Lycett, 381).
In e-marketing relationships, consumers still share their personal information despite security concerns because they often assign economic value to privacy, based on economic principles such as a cost benefit calculation (Pavlou, 981). However, although rational customers reveal their personal information to the marketers for specific benefits, they still wish to withhold this information if they do not expect any benefits in return. Moreover, they only disclose this information voluntarily because they view privacy as a commodity they can sacrifice for various economic benefits; but they still object to firms using this information without their consent (Pavlou, 981).

There are three major ways in which e-marketing can be considered a threat to privacy. These are:

1) Misuse of personal information due to lack of adequate privacy controls

The efficacy of privacy controls often depends on their ability to minimize or counteract security risks relating to personal information (Willison and Warkentin, 4). Nevertheless, marketing firms take advantage of the fact that most consumers are not aware of privacy controls and if they do, they are not able to match the company's advanced information technology. Some then go ahead to use consumer's emails, credit card information, and identities to manipulate them into buying their products due to the consumer's lack of appropriate privacy controls (Pavlou, 981).

2) Unauthorized use of personal information for purposes outside of the original exchange

When consumers are comfortable with the way their personal information is managed, they are less concerned about their privacy, since they often view it as an exchangeable commodity (Pavlou, 981). In such a context, consumers will have no qualms with a firm using their websites to collect information that will be used to develop products that fit their needs.…

Sources used in this document:
Works cited

Denning, Tamara., Kohno, Tadayoshi and Levy, Henry, M. "Computer security and the modern home." Communications of the ACM, Vol. (56)1, (2013) 94-103. Print

Lycett, Mark. "Datafication: making sense of (big) data in a complex world." European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. (22) 1, (2013) 381-386 .Print

Pavlou, Paul "State of the information privacy literature: Where are we now and where should we go?" MIS Quarterly, Vol. (35)4, (2013) 977-988. Print

Willison, Robert. & Warkentin, Merril. "Beyond deterrence: An expanded view of employee computer abuse." MIS Quarterly, Vol. (37)1 (2013) 1-20. Print
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

B & B. Custom Woodworks,
Words: 16727 Length: 50 Document Type: Essay

Custom Woodworks, Inc. Overview of Small Business in America Finding a definition of what is meant by small business can be difficult. Even the small business administration has difficulty agreeing as to what is meant by a small business. Currently, the small business administration considers a small business to be one that has fewer than 250 employees, or wholesalers whose annual sales amount to less than $5 million. For retail establishments,

Consumer Behavior Toward E-Banking Applied
Words: 5831 Length: 21 Document Type: Dissertation

" (Al-Ghaith, Sanzogni, and Sandhu, 2010) With a focus on Saudi Arabia it is reported that there is "no reliable local production in the fields of software or the hardware. The increased demand for ICTs is met by acquiring overseas technologies. The trend towards increased reliance on ICTs by the Saudi people, in particular computers and internet services, is one of the highest when compared with other developing countries; however it is

Internet Business Plan What Does
Words: 7291 Length: 15 Document Type: Business Plan

(Horticulture and the advantages of using the Internet Technology) What are the disadvantages of conducting business, large or small, on the Internet? They may be many. However, the most important disadvantages are: it can actually create a feeling of isolation; the businessman may feel that he has become isolated. This means that he may get the feeling that the World Wide Web is faceless and emotionless, and thus the business

Consumer Web Site Design: Purchase Intentions and
Words: 2820 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

Consumer Web Site Design: Purchase Intentions and Loyalty in a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Internet Commerce Environment RHETORICAL DISSERTATION Electronic commerce has experienced the meteoric rise and subsequent crash of any behemoth entity cast aloft without moorings or foundation. From a now short but historical vantage point, this profound economic failure during the dot-com heyday can likely be attributed to a few key factors. Many experts in the field of e-commerce have suggested remedial

Ommerce E-Commerce E- Commerce E- Commerce E-Commerce
Words: 4770 Length: 16 Document Type: Essay

OMMERCE E-Commerce E- Commerce E- Commerce E-commerce revolution has immensely affected all the industries, including the real estate industry. By using websites the real estate agents can transmit the information about the properties to a wide range of people. In addition to that, it can also enable the real estate agents to set up information communication channels directly between the real estate agencies, investors and developers. By mass media advertisements, the retailers can target

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now