Consumer Vulnerability: Understanding Transparency and Control in the Online Environment

Purpose – In the online environment, consumers increasingly feel vulnerable due to firms’
expanding capabilities of collecting and using their data in an unsanctioned manner. Drawing
from gossip theory, this research focuses on two key suppressors of consumer vulnerability:
transparency and control. Previous studies conceptualize transparency and control from
rationalistic approaches that overlook individual experiences and present a unidimensional
conceptualization. This research aims to understand how individuals interpret transparency and
control concerning privacy vulnerability in the online environment. Additionally, it explores
strategic approaches to communicating the value of transparency and control.

 

Design/methodology/approach – An interpretivism paradigm and phenomenology were
adopted in the research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with
41 participants, including consumers and experts, and analyzed through thematic analysis.

 

Findings – The findings identify key conceptual dimensions of transparency and control by
adapting justice theory. They also reveal that firms can communicate assurance, functional,
technical, and social values of transparency and control to address consumer vulnerability.

 

Originality – This research makes the following contributions to the data privacy literature.
The findings exhibit multidimensional and comprehensive conceptualizations of transparency
and control, including user, firm, and information perspectives. Additionally, the conceptual
framework combines empirical insights from both experiencers and observers to offer an
understanding of how transparency and control serve as justice mechanisms to effectively
tackle the issue of unsanctioned transmission of personal information and subsequently address
vulnerability. Lastly, the findings provide strategic approaches to communicating the value of
transparency and control.