The Effect of Consumer Privacy Empowerment on Trust and Privacy Concerns in E-Commerce

Privacy concerns and a lack of trust have been shown to reduce consumer's willingness to transact with an online vendor. Understandably, firms are searching for methods to reduce consumer privacy concerns and increase trust. In this study, we introduce a new construct – consumer privacy empowerment. We then propose and test a theoretical model that examines the relationship between consumer privacy empowerment, familiarity, privacy concern and trust. Results indicate support for the model and suggest that perceived privacy empowerment has a strong influence on both privacy concern and trust in e‐commerce.