What triggers customers’ privacy protection behavior: The effect of surveillance cameras and data collection disclosure

Despite all the benefits of what customer data can bring to the marketing field, customers’ privacy concern is one of the key challenges that comes with Big Data, privacy threats have evolved along with the evolution of information technology and resulted in privacy protection behaviour among customers. The present research conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of external stimuli in triggering privacy protection behaviour, including the presence of surveillance cameras, company disclosure of biometric data collection, and customers’ prior knowledge of privacy. The study involved a 3 (environmental awareness: low/average/high) x 2 (company disclosure: yes/no) between subject designs. Data was collected on the Tencent questionnaire platform (https://wj.qq.com/) with 554 effective responses. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that the presence of surveillance cameras, company disclosure in biometric data collection, and the customer’s prior knowledge of privacy are crucial factors in triggering a customer’s privacy protection behaviour in the service industry. Practical implications for retail store operators and theoretical contributions are discussed. The current study extends the knowledge of privacy protection by incorporating additional factors (privacy literacy) into the existing protection motivation theory. Additionally, it extends its application to the physical environment which is often overlooked.