Consumer Vulnerability: Understanding Transparency and Control in the Online Environment

<p>Purpose – In the online environment, consumers increasingly feel vulnerable due to firms’<br>expanding capabilities of collecting and using their data in an unsanctioned manner. Drawing<br>from gossip theory, this research focuses on two key suppressors of consumer vulnerability:<br>transparency and control. Previous studies conceptualize transparency and control from<br>rationalistic approaches that overlook individual experiences and present a unidimensional<br>conceptualization. This research aims to understand how individuals interpret transparency and<br>control concerning privacy vulnerability in the online environment. Additionally, it explores<br>strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.</p> <p> </p> <p>Design/methodology/approach – An interpretivism paradigm and phenomenology were<br>adopted in the research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with<br>41 participants, including consumers and experts, and analyzed through thematic analysis.</p> <p> </p> <p>Findings – The findings identify key conceptual dimensions of transparency and control by<br>adapting justice theory. They also reveal that firms can communicate assurance, functional,<br>technical, and social values of transparency and control to address consumer vulnerability.</p> <p> </p> <p>Originality – This research makes the following contributions to the data privacy literature.<br>The findings exhibit multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualizations of transparency<br>and control, including user, firm, and information perspectives. Additionally, the conceptual<br>framework combines empirical insights from both experiencers and observers to offer an<br>understanding of how transparency and control serve as justice mechanisms to effectively<br>tackle the issue of unsanctioned transmission of personal information and subsequently address<br>vulnerability. Lastly, the findings provide strategic approaches to communicating the value of<br>transparency and control.</p>