IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/telpol/v48y2024i7s0308596124000776.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contextual integrity of loyalty programs, compromised? Interrogating consumer health data practices and networked actors in the U.S. retail sector

Author

Listed:
  • Baik, Jeeyun Sophia
  • Famularo, Jordan

Abstract

This study explores privacy issues complicated by the commodification of consumer health data in the United States by looking into loyalty programs (LPs). Three LPs – those of Nike, Walgreens, and DICK’S Sporting Goods – are examined because their incorporation of health technology represents retail data practices unregulated by the U.S. Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Applying the framework of contextual integrity (Nissenbaum, 2004, 2009), the research conducted discourse analysis on corporate communications to identify whether and how privacy conflicts arise in a data economy composed of multiple business entities that use LP member data. The major contributions of this study are a clarification of shortfalls in multi-organizational governance of health-related consumer data outside the HIPAA regulation in the United States, and a recognition that businesses may optimize this data without adequately informing consumers about the risks and providing meaningful redress mechanisms. The paper concludes by urging policy-makers to target networked business relationships and externalities that result from collective behavior of firms trading in consumer health data.

Suggested Citation

  • Baik, Jeeyun Sophia & Famularo, Jordan, 2024. "Contextual integrity of loyalty programs, compromised? Interrogating consumer health data practices and networked actors in the U.S. retail sector," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(7).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:7:s0308596124000776
    DOI: 10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308596124000776
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.telpol.2024.102780?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jiezhuoma La & Iryna Heiets & Cees Bil, 2022. "Digitalization in Passengers’ Air Travel," Progress in IS, in: Jorge Marx Gómez & Lawal O. Yesufu (ed.), Sustainable Development Through Data Analytics and Innovation, pages 63-79, Springer.
    2. Christiaan Hogendorn & Brett Frischmann, 2020. "Infrastructure and general purpose technologies: a technology flow framework," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 469-488, December.
    3. John A. Walsh & Peter J. Cobb & Wayne de Fremery & Koraljka Golub & Humphrey Keah & Jeonghyun Kim & Joseph Kiplang'at & Ying‐Hsang Liu & Simon Mahony & Sam G. Oh & Chris Alen Sula & Ted Underwood & Xi, 2022. "Digital humanities in the iSchool," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(2), pages 188-203, February.
    4. Jai, Tun-Min (Catherine) & King, Nancy J., 2016. "Privacy versus reward: Do loyalty programs increase consumers' willingness to share personal information with third-party advertisers and data brokers?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 296-303.
    5. Gisca, Oxana & Matinmikko-Blue, Marja & Ahokangas, Petri & Yrjolä, Seppo & Gordon, Jillian, 2023. "Regulatory challenges and implications of the European electronic communications code (EECC) for local mobile communication network business," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10).
    6. Valeria Stourm & Scott A. Neslin & Eric T. Bradlow & Els Breugelmans & So Yeon Chun & Pedro Gardete & P. K. Kannan & Praveen Kopalle & Young-Hoon Park & David Restrepo Amariles & Raphael Thomadsen & Y, 2020. "Refocusing loyalty programs in the era of big data: a societal lens paradigm," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 405-418, December.
    7. Winter, Jenifer Sunrise & Davidson, Elizabeth, 2022. "Harmonizing regulatory regimes for the governance of patient-generated health data," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    8. Yeh, Chih-Liang, 2018. "Pursuing consumer empowerment in the age of big data: A comprehensive regulatory framework for data brokers," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 282-292.
    9. , Muhajir, 2022. "Teknologi Digital Dalam Komunikasi Bisnis," OSF Preprints a2u5t, Center for Open Science.
    10. repec:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2017.303995_1 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Cynthia Hardy, 2001. "Researching Organizational Discourse," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 25-47, September.
    12. Grundy, Q. & Held, F. & Bero, L., 2017. "A social network analysis of the financial links backing health and fitness apps," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 107(11), pages 1783-1788.
    13. Martens, Marijn & De Wolf, Ralf & Vadendriessche, Karel & Evens, Tom & De Marez, Lieven, 2021. "Applying contextual integrity to digital contact tracing and automated triage for hospitals during COVID-19," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Capponi, Giovanna & Corrocher, Nicoletta & Zirulia, Lorenzo, 2021. "Personalized pricing for customer retention: Theory and evidence from mobile communication," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1).
    15. Ogan Yigitbasioglu & Peter Green & May-Yin Decca Cheung, 2022. "Digital transformation and accountants as advisors," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(1), pages 209-237, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aujla, Navneet & Frost, Helen & Guthrie, Bruce & Hanratty, Barbara & Kaner, Eileen & O'Donnell, Amy & Ogden, Margaret E. & Pain, Helen G. & Shenkin, Susan D. & Mercer, Stewart W., 2023. "A comparative overview of health and social care policy for older people in England and Scotland, United Kingdom (UK)," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Jorge Padilla, 2020. "Big Tech “banks”, financial stability and regulation," Revista de Estabilidad Financiera, Banco de España, issue Spring.
    3. Chen, Yanyan & Mandler, Timo & Meyer-Waarden, Lars, 2021. "Three decades of research on loyalty programs: A literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 179-197.
    4. Griffin, Míde & Lyons, Sean & Mohan, Gretta & Joseph, Merin & Domhnaill, Ciarán Mac & Evans, John, 2022. "Intra-operator mobile plan switching: Evidence from linked survey and billing microdata," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(7).
    5. Federico Rossi & Pradeep K. Chintagunta, 2023. "Consumer Loyalty Programs and Retail Prices: Evidence from Gasoline Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 794-818, July.
    6. Islam, Md. Monirul & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Ahmed, Faroque, 2024. "Robot race in geopolitically risky environment: Exploring the Nexus between AI-powered tech industrial outputs and energy consumption in Singapore," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Carlo Pugnetti & Sandra Elmer, 2020. "Self-Assessment of Driving Style and the Willingness to Share Personal Information," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Pham Quang Huy & Vu Kien Phuc, 2023. "Big data in relation with business intelligence capabilities and e-commerce during COVID-19 pandemic in accountant’s perspective," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    9. Jordan Famularo, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility communication in the ICT sector: digital issues, greenwashing, and materiality," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Pallant, Jason I. & Pallant, Jessica L. & Sands, Sean J. & Ferraro, Carla R. & Afifi, Eslam, 2022. "When and how consumers are willing to exchange data with retailers: An exploratory segmentation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Lu Xu & Yanhui Li & Qi Yao, 2022. "Information security investment and purchase decision for personalized products," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2619-2635, September.
    12. Michel Tolksdorf, 2023. "On Point Predictions and Reference Dependence in Behavior-Based Pricing Experiments," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14.
    13. Vallaster, Christine & von Wallpach, Sylvia, 2013. "An online discursive inquiry into the social dynamics of multi-stakeholder brand meaning co-creation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1505-1515.
    14. Duval, Anne-Marie & Gendron, Yves & Roux-Dufort, Christophe, 2015. "Exhibiting nongovernmental organizations: Reifying the performance discourse through framing power," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 31-53.
    15. Lehtonen, Markku, 2009. "OECD organisational discourse, peer reviews and sustainable development: An ecological-institutionalist perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 389-397, December.
    16. Arora Swapan Deep, 2023. "Contemporary challenges of consumption: a Kafkaesque and critical marketing perspective," International Journal of Contemporary Management, Sciendo, vol. 59(4), pages 58-73, December.
    17. Ainsworth, Susan & Grant, David, 2012. "Revitalizing scholarship in identity studies," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 60-62.
    18. Shirley Leitch & Ian Palmer, 2010. "Analysing Texts in Context: Current Practices and New Protocols for Critical Discourse Analysis in Organization Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1194-1212, September.
    19. Loh, Xiu-Ming & Lee, Voon-Hsien & Leong, Lai-Ying & Aw, Eugene Cheng-Xi & Cham, Tat-Huei & Tang, Yun-Chia & Hew, Jun-Jie, 2023. "Understanding consumers’ resistance to pay with cryptocurrency in the sharing economy: A hybrid SEM-fsQCA approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    20. Tregidga, Helen & Milne, Markus & Kearins, Kate, 2014. "(Re)presenting ‘sustainable organizations’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 477-494.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:telpol:v:48:y:2024:i:7:s0308596124000776. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30471/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.