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The Willingness to Sell Personal Data

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  • Volker Benndorf
  • Hans‐Theo Normann

Abstract

We assess the willingness of individuals to sell personal data in laboratory experiments. Our experiments are novel in that they are incentivized, the focus on privacy issues is salient, and the use of the data is transparent and unambiguous. We find considerable heterogeneity in the data. Roughly one in six participants refuse to sell personal data at all and a similar fraction sell their data for 2.50 euros or less. Our results contrast with those from hypothetical questionnaires. Those willing to sell, request, on average, 15 euros for their contact details and 19 euros for their Facebook data.

Suggested Citation

  • Volker Benndorf & Hans‐Theo Normann, 2018. "The Willingness to Sell Personal Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(4), pages 1260-1278, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:120:y:2018:i:4:p:1260-1278
    DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12247
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    Cited by:

    1. Bettina Rockenbach & Abdolkarim Sadrieh & Anne Schielke, 2021. "Paying with your personal data: the insensitivity of private information provision to asymmetric benefits," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 7(1), pages 64-73, September.
    2. Martin Eling & Irina Gemmo & Danjela Guxha & Hato Schmeiser, 2024. "Big data, risk classification, and privacy in insurance markets," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 49(1), pages 75-126, March.
    3. Te Bao & John Duffy & Nobuyuki Hanaki, 2024. "Paying to Avoid the Spotlight," ISER Discussion Paper 1238r, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University, revised Sep 2024.
    4. Janis Cloos & Björn Frank & Lukas Kampenhuber & Stephany Karam & Nhat Luong & Daniel Möller & Maria Monge-Larrain & Nguyen Tan Dat & Marco Nilgen & Christoph Rössler, 2019. "Is Your Privacy for Sale? An Experiment on the Willingness to Reveal Sensitive Information," Games, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, July.
    5. H. Li & A. Nill, 2020. "Online Behavioral Targeting: Are Knowledgeable Consumers Willing to Sell Their Privacy?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 723-745, December.
    6. Michiel Bijlsma & Carin van der Cruijsen & Nicole Jonker, 2024. "Not all data are created equal - Data sharing and privacy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(11), pages 1250-1267, March.
    7. Ling Cao & Jie Yin, 2023. "Research on Sharing Behavior Strategy of Cultural Heritage Institutions Based on Evolutionary Game Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Hyojin Park & Hyeontaek Oh & Jun Kyun Choi, 2023. "A Profit Maximization Model for Data Consumers with Data Providers’ Incentives in Personal Data Trading Market," Data, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Avinash Collis & Alex Moehring & Ananya Sen, 2020. "Economic Value of Data: Quantification Using Online Experiments," Working Papers 20-13, NET Institute.
    10. Biener, Christian & Eling, Martin & Lehmann, Martin, 2020. "Balancing the desire for privacy against the desire to hedge risk," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 608-620.
    11. Wang, Bohong & Guo, Qinglai & Yu, Yang, 2022. "Mechanism design for data sharing: An electricity retail perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    12. Haucap, Justus, 2021. "Mögliche Wohlfahrtswirkungen eines Einsatzes von Algorithmen," DICE Ordnungspolitische Perspektiven 109, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    13. Chanchai Phonthanukitithaworn & Carmine Sellitto, 2022. "A Willingness to Disclose Personal Information for Monetary Reward: A Study of Fitness Tracker Users in Thailand," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    14. Fehrenbach, David & Herrando, Carolina, 2021. "The effect of customer-perceived value when paying for a product with personal data: A real-life experimental study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 222-232.
    15. Ackfeld, Viola & Güth, Werner, 2023. "Personal information disclosure under competition for benefits: Is sharing caring?," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 1-32.
    16. Cloos, Janis & Mohr, Svenja, 2022. "Acceptance of data sharing in smartphone apps from key industries of the digital transformation: A representative population survey for Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    17. Alfnes, Frode & Wasenden, Ole Christian, 2022. "Your privacy for a discount? Exploring the willingness to share personal data for personalized offers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).

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