Privacy with multi-dimensions: a literature review with text-mining approach

Purpose This study aimed to capture the transition of privacy scholarship in interactive marketing, argue the compelling synergies of multiple dimensions of privacy and delineate the evaluation mechanism of privacy that supports a nuanced understanding toward the interplay between consumer, firm and institution. Design/methodology/approach The literature review approached different layers of privacy and consolidated the conceptual model. An auxiliary text-mining (72,829 articles retrieved, spanning from 1960 to 2022) was conducted to identify studies and clarify the research trend on various privacy dimensions. A framework approach was implemented to serve as a comprehensive reference to study consumer privacy. Findings Drawing on overarching reviews of marketing privacy studies, our study articulated seven dimensions of privacy – informational, psychological, interpersonal, economic, contextual, ethical and relative – as well as a framework, consisting of the level of interaction, privacy context, privacy evaluation continuum and pool of evaluation indicators. Originality/value This review extended the compositions of privacy from four-to seven-dimensional typology and progressed the conceptual development of privacy research. A framework approach was proposed to highlight the interdependency and contextual integrity of privacy issues.