Will the use of a third-party privacy seal (lock) in an e-mail advertisements result in a higher likelihood of consumers disclosing their private information?

Abstract

One of the commodities in the commercial world has become access to data, specifically personal information. The Internet has rapidly expanded a company s ability to access consumers and individuals personal information, however consumers privacy-concerns regarding the disclosure of their personal information have continued to increase. Using an e-mail marketing campaign, this research explored the impact of using third-party privacy seal (lock) as signals to facilitate consumers disclosing private information. The study employed a live experimental randomised two-group post-test only design, whereby an e-mail advertisement, identical in design except for the image of a third party seal (lock) placed on the non-control group s e-mail. The test explored whether the e-mail advertisement containing the third-party privacy signal (lock) had an impact on whether or not the recipient behaved in a certain way in comparison to the e-mail advertisement that did not contain a lock. The results showed no real significant difference of the third-party seal (lock) on the consumer s preparedness to disclose personal information. Whilst the lock may be used as a trust symbol it is not enough, within the online advertising context, to entice disclosure of personal information. To remain competitive, companies will need to reassess their advertising strategies and further research will need to identify high value signals to encourage consumer disclosure.