Information Privacy Research: An Interdisciplinary Review

MIS Quarterly, Forthcoming

Posted: 19 Sep 2010

See all articles by Jeff H. Smith

Jeff H. Smith

Miami University of Ohio

Tamara Dinev

Florida Atlantic University - School of Accounting

Heng Xu

The Pennsylvania State University

Date Written: September 18, 2010

Abstract

To date, many important threads of information privacy research have developed, but these threads have not been woven together into a cohesive fabric. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review of privacy-related research in order to enable a more cohesive treatment. With a sample of 320 privacy articles and 128 books and book sections, we classify previous literature in two ways: (1) using an ethics-based nomenclature of normative, purely descriptive, and empirically descriptive, and (2) based on their level of analysis: individual, group, organizational, and societal.

Based upon our analyses via these two classification approaches, we identify three major areas in which previous research contributions reside: the conceptualization of information privacy, the relationship between information privacy and other constructs, and the contextual nature of these relationships.

As we consider these major areas, we draw three overarching conclusions. First, there are many theoretical developments in the body of normative and purely descriptive studies that have not been addressed in empirical research on privacy. Rigorous studies that either trace processes associated with, or test implied assertions from, these value-laden arguments could add great value. Second, some of the levels of analysis have received less attention in certain contexts than have others in the research to date. Future empirical studies — both positivist and interpretive — could profitably be targeted to these under-researched levels of analysis. Third, positivist empirical studies will add the greatest value if they focus on antecedents to privacy concerns and on actual outcomes. In that light, we recommend that researchers be alert to an overarching macro-model that we term APCO (Antecedents -> Privacy -> Concerns -> Outcomes).

Keywords: Information Privacy, Multi-Theory, Regulation, Society, Interdisciplinary

Suggested Citation

Smith, Jeff H. and Dinev, Tamara and Xu, Heng, Information Privacy Research: An Interdisciplinary Review (September 18, 2010). MIS Quarterly, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1679127

Jeff H. Smith (Contact Author)

Miami University of Ohio ( email )

Oxford, OH 45056
United States

Tamara Dinev

Florida Atlantic University - School of Accounting ( email )

School of Accounting
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431
United States

Heng Xu

The Pennsylvania State University ( email )

PA 16802
Pennsylvania
United States

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