Cultural and generational influences on privacy concerns: a qualitative study in seven European countries

Abstract

This research examines how European citizens decide to disclose and protect their personal data and thereby reveals cultural and generational divides. Focus group discussions featured either young people, aged 15 to 24 years, or adults, between 25 and 70 years of age, and were conducted in seven EU member states. The results of a computer-aided text analysis with two complementary software packages suggest similarities and differences in participants' views and privacy concerns (PC). Responsibility is relevant to personal data management, which represents a hotly contested issue. A geographical north-south divide appears for the importance of responsibility as opposed to trust. Moreover, people regard disclosure differently in the south (as a choice) and east (as forced) of Europe. Younger people express more positive attitudes toward data management, feel more responsible, and are more confident in their ability to prevent possible data misuse. Their lower PC and greater protective behaviours (i.e., a potential reversed privacy paradox) may help explain contradictory results in prior literature. These results offer significant and useful theoretical, managerial, and policy implications.

Keywords:

• privacy concerns
• personal data disclosure
• focus groups
• computer-aided text analysis
• cultural variation
• generation divide

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caroline Lancelot Miltgen

About the Authors

Caroline Lancelot Miltgen (Ph.D., University of Paris Dauphine) is Associate Professor of Marketing at Angers University, France. Her research concentrates on information privacy and technology adoption. She has presented papers at international conferences and has published her work in French and international scholarly journals.

Dominique Peyrat-Guillard

Dominique Peyrat-Guillard (Ph.D., University of Poitiers) is Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at Angers University, France. Her research deals with Organizational Behavior and statistical analysis of textual data. She has presented papers at international conferences and has published her work in French and international scholarly journals.