This article was downloaded by: [Appalachian State University]On: 01 August 2013, At: 10:52Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Chinese Journal of CommunicationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcjc20

Prior negative experience of onlinedisclosure, privacy concerns, andregulatory support in Chinese socialmediaHongwei (Chris) Yang a & Hui Liu ba Appalachian State University , USAb Beijing International Studies University , ChinaPublished online: 01 Aug 2013.

To cite this article: Chinese Journal of Communication (2013): Prior negative experience of onlinedisclosure, privacy concerns, and regulatory support in Chinese social media, Chinese Journal ofCommunication

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.816756

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Prior negative experience of online disclosure, privacy concerns, andregulatory support in Chinese social media

Hongwei (Chris) Yanga* and Hui Liub

aAppalachian State University, USA; bBeijing International Studies University, China

A written survey of 489 Chinese college students was conducted in the spring of2012 to test a conceptual model of consumers’ regulatory support for social mediaadvertising. It showed that the prior negative experience of consumers in onlinedisclosure directly increased their privacy concerns and perceived risks indisclosing on social networking websites. Online privacy concerns, trust, and riskstrengthened their support for the government regulation of social mediaadvertising, while trust and social media use enhanced support for industry self-regulation. Surprisingly, the prior negative experiences of young Chineseconsumers did not reduce their social media use and had little direct effect ontheir support for regulations. The implications of the findings for digital interactivemarketers and governmental and self-regulatory agencies are discussed.

Keywords: consumer attitudes; advertising regulation; online privacy concerns;trust; risk; social media use

Similar to social media in developed countries, China’s social media industry has been

flourishing thanks to increasing marketing activities. Advertising Age reported that,

by capitalizing on 637 million registered users of its social networking site, Qzone,

Tencent became the world’s third largest Internet company after Google and Amazon

with revenues of $1.8 billion in 2009, including over $144 million in ad revenue and a

net profit of $760 million (Madden, 2011). By the end of 2011, the number of Chinese

users of social networking websites reached 251 million, or 46.6% of Chinese Internet

users (CNNIC, 2012). DCCI (2011) predicted that Chinese marketers would increase

their advertising spending on social media from 1,730 million yuan ($279 million) in

2011 to 4,160 million yuan ($671 million) in 2013.The sustainable development of Chinese social networking websites (SNS), such

as Qzone and Renren depends on the truthfulness and accuracy of personal

information provided by millions of subscribers. SNS subscribers have to trade

valuable personal information to receive many “free” benefits, such as the ability to

interact with friends and family freely and instantaneously, meet new people, join

various online interest groups and communities, use free applications and services

provided through the site, and communicate with people throughout the world

(Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Accordingly, SNSs can allow advertisers to

tailor their ads appropriately and target social media users precisely, particularly

those who express interest in or “like” their brands or products on the websites.

q 2013 The Centre for Chinese Media and Comparative Communication Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

*Corresponding author. Email: yangh@appstate.edu

Chinese Journal of Communication, 2013

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2013.816756

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Consequently, leading social networking websites, such as Facebook, make hugeprofits by utilizing users’ profiles, social connections and their friends’ recent activitiesfor targeted advertising and marketing (Quinn, 2010). In addition, SNS can alsogenerate tremendous revenues by supplying their subscribers’ personal information tomarketers, recruiters, and other interested parties. It is not surprising that the totalworldwide social network ad revenues have been growing rapidly and that eMarketer(2012) forecast that advertisers would spend $7.72 billion globally on social networkadvertising this year.

However, the inappropriate collection, use, and dissemination of consumers’personal data on the Chinese web are prevalent and even rampant, particularly bySNSs that prosper from online privacy disclosure, where Internet users take high risksin divulging personal information (Kong, 2007; Rising, 2009). Few Chinesecommercial websites have realized the importance of gaining Internet users’ trust byconspicuously announcing and strictly implementing their online privacy policies.Only 2% of the top 1500 Chinese websites, 8% of the top 100 commercial websitesand 4% of the top 100 B2C websites seem to comply with the Federal TradeCommission’s (FTC) FTC’s (1998) four fair information practice principles:(i) notice/awareness, (ii) choice/consent, (iii) access/participation, and (iv) integrity/security (Kong, 2007). One of the biggest Chinese online security firms has warnedInternet users that SNSs have become a major culprit in abusing online privacy andthat SNS users will have to deal with seven privacy security risks when they use socialnetworking services (Rising, 2009).

On the other hand, for Chinese Internet users, government protection ofconsumers’ online privacy is very limited. The right to privacy is not a constitutionalright for Chinese citizens (Xue, 2010). Instead, their privacy is protected under theright of reputation according to the 1988 Civil Law of China (Wu et al., 2011). Inaddition, government regulations of Internet marketing and advertising are almostnon-existent, and industry self-regulation in China is weak and ineffective (Yang &Zhou, 2009).

The mishandling of the online privacy of Internet users increases their privacyconcerns, curbs their enthusiasm for divulging truthful personal information, attractsregulators’ attention, and eventually hinders the rapid growth of social mediamarketing. Chinese online companies and Internet marketers have suffered fromsome negative consequences of their inadequate protection of consumers’ onlineprivacy. For instance, young Chinese Internet users have exhibited very high levels ofconcern about privacy online (Yao & Zhang, 2008). Research has also shown thatChinese social media users have expressed low acceptance of all kinds of display adson SNSs, with an approval rate of below 30% (CNNIC, 2009). To protect thepersonal information of Chinese citizens, the People’s Congress began workingon a national law after it passed the Tort Liability Law in 2010, which specificallylisted Chinese citizens’ right to privacy. Many Chinese scholars believe that theTort Liability Law can be evoked to protect the online privacy of Chinese Internetusers (e.g., Ma, 2011; Xu & Luo, 2010; Zhang, 2010). Observers have also raised theconcerns that the new Chinese privacy law might be more stringent than Westernprivacy laws (e.g., Antisdel & Ghalayini, 2011). Eventually, the Chinese governmentwill enforce new privacy laws and regulations on social media marketing.

Should the Internet industry in China attach greater importance than it does toaddressing the issue of consumers’ online privacy concerns? To what extent will the

2 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

invasion of Internet users’ online privacy influence their online privacy concerns andregulatory support? To help the Internet industry and regulators in China findanswers, the present study intends to provide key insights by examining the influenceof young Chinese Internet users’ prior negative experiences of online disclosure ontheir support for social media advertising regulation as well as the influence on theirtrust in online companies, marketers and laws, risk of online disclosure, and socialmedia use. Based on a review of previous studies as well as social contract theory, thepresent study constructs a conceptual model and tests it in China.

Literature review

Social contract theory

Dunfee, Smith, and Ross (1999) suggested that social contract theory could beapplied to explain various exchange relationships between the firm and its customersin marketing activities. Indeed, previous studies have considered the exchange ofconsumers’ personal information an implied social contract (e.g., Culnan, 1995;Milne & Gordon, 1993). Social contract theory has also been applied by marketingscholars to examine consumers’ privacy concerns in both offline and online contextsin developed countries (e.g., Culnan & Bies, 2003; Malhotra, Kim, & Agarwal, 2004;Okazaki, Li, & Hirose, 2009; Phelps, Nowak, & Ferrell, 2000). Dunfee and Warren(2001) drew upon social contract theory to examine the ethical implications ofGuanxi, that is, connections for doing business in China. In addition, Chinesescholars suggested that the social contract approach to business could help Chinesefirms gain consumers’ trust and build brand equity (e.g., Hou, 2010; Lin, 2004).Hence, we have adopted social contract theory to help understand the influence ofyoung Chinese Internet users’ prior negative experiences of online disclosure on thefollowing: online privacy concerns, perceived risk, trust, social media use, andregulatory support.

Theoretically, a social contract is formed whenever a consumer provides amarketer with personal information on the Internet in exchange for any incentive(including the free, convenient services of social networking websites). The consumerexpects that their personal information will be managed responsibly. The impliedcontract is regarded as “fair” if the marketer complies with FTC’s five fairinformation practice principles, and the consumer has reasonable control over thepersonal information collected by the marketer (Culnan, 1995). The contract isbreached by the marketer if the consumer’s personal information is collected withouthis/her knowledge or consent, if the consumer’s personal information is provided to athird party without permission, if the consumer’s personal information is used for anyother purpose not agreed upon by the consumer, if the accuracy of the consumer’spersonal data is not safeguarded, if the consumer is not offered an opportunity to optout, or if the consumer is not informed of the firm’s privacy policy (Phelps et al.,2000). Hence, the privacy of consumers is protected when none of the above improperbehaviors occurs. However, it is invaded when the consumer’s control is lost orreduced involuntarily after and beyond the marketing transaction (Milne & Gordon,1993). This study assumes that most Chinese consumers would like to have controlover how the information about them is collected and used; otherwise, their privacyconcerns would increase (Phelps et al., 2000).

Chinese Journal of Communication 3

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Okazaki, Li, and Hirose (2009) extended social contract theory to incorporatetrust, risk, and consumer regulatory preference. They argue that consumers haveinvested their trust in a marketer when they expect that the marketer will respect andprotect the personal information provided voluntarily in exchange for relevantservices. Consumers also trust that the marketer will not use their personalinformation beyond mutually agreed purposes. However, consumers will often feel atrisk by providing their personal information to a marketer that they do not knowpersonally. When the marketer’s abuse of their personal information occurs,regulatory control mechanisms should be available to be called upon to redress theconsumer. Consumers then have to decide whether they prefer government regulationor industry self-regulation. Similarly, this study adopts social contract theory toconnect the prior negative experiences of young Chinese Internet users with regard toonline disclosure, privacy concerns, perceived risks, trust, and regulatory support.

Online information privacy concerns

In China, privacy has gradually been recognized as an independent civil rightalthough it has always been treated as a kind of reputation right in various legaldocuments (Cheung, 2009; Wu et al., 2011; Xue, 2010). Recently, the Beijing DistrictCourt defined privacy as a right to a person’s private interest and personal relations,including personal life, personal information, personal space, secrets, and any aspectof life that an individual would not like to share with the world (Cheung, 2009). Inaddition, the government has also acknowledged the right of Chinese citizens toonline information privacy. For example, the Information Security TechnologyGuidelines for Personal Information Protection, issued by the Administration ofQuality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Adminis-tration of China in 2011, specifically forbid collection of certain categories of personalinformation, such as data related to race, religious beliefs, health, and sex life. Theguidelines also advocate the principles of confidentiality and informed specificconsent for collecting, handling, and transferring online personal data in China(Antisdel & Ghalayini, 2011). Moreover, the right to privacy is included in a long listof protected civil rights and interests in the very new Tort Liability Law of China (Wuet al., 2011).

Thus, in this study, online information privacy is regarded as the legitimate claimof Chinese individuals, groups, or institutions to determine when, how, and to whatextent information about them is communicated to others on the Internet (Westin,1967).

Previous Western studies of direct marketing identified at least six major aspectsof consumers’ privacy concerns: collection (e.g., Smith, Milberg, & Burk, 1996;Stewart & Segars, 2002), unauthorized secondary use (e.g., Smith et al., 1996; Stewart& Segars, 2002), improper access, errors (Smith et al., 1996; Stewart & Segars, 2002),control, and awareness of privacy practices (Malhotra et al., 2004).

The present study conceptualizes the online information privacy concerns ofChinese Internet users as the degree to which they are concerned about the collectionof personal information by online companies, unauthorized secondary use, improperaccess, and errors in online personal data. Collection indicates consumers’ concernsthat “extensive amounts of personally identifiable data are being collected and storedin databases”. Consumers are also concerned about unauthorized secondary use, that

4 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

is, “information is collected for one purpose but is used for another, secondarypurpose.” Improper access afflicts consumers when “data about individuals arereadily available to people not properly authorized to view or work with this data”.Consumers also worry about errors when “protections against deliberate andaccidental errors in personal data are inadequate” (Smith et al., 1996, p. 172). Smithet al. (1996) developed the Concerns for Information Privacy (CFIP) scale to measurethese dimensions, and validating it across populations of students, consumers, andprofessionals. The validity and reliability of this instrument have also been tested insubsequent empirical studies (e.g., Milberg, Smith, & Burke, 2000; Rose, 2006;Stewart & Segars, 2002). Yang’s (2011) study showed that Smith et al.’s (1996) CFIPscale outperformed Malhotra et al.’s (2004) Internet Users’ Information PrivacyConcerns (IUIPC) scale in measuring information privacy concerns of youngAmerican Internet users. Moreover, several empirical studies adopted Smith et al.’s(1996) scale satisfactorily to measure the online information privacy concerns ofChinese Internet users (e.g., Hsu, 2004; Lowry, Cao, & Everard, 2011; Yang, Wang,& Wang, 2008; Yao & Zhang, 2008). Hence, similar to previous studies (e.g., Stewart& Segars, 2002; Malhotra et al., 2004; Okazaki, Li, & Hirose, 2009), the onlineinformation privacy concerns of Chinese Internet users will be treated as a four-dimensional construct and a second-order factor.

Direct consequences of prior negative experiences

Prior negative experience of personal information disclosure might significantlyincrease consumers’ information privacy concerns in both online and offline contexts(e.g., Bansal, Zahedi, & Gefen, 2010; Okazaki et al., 2009). After a prior negativeexperience of online disclosure, consumers might perceive that an implied social orpsychological contract was breached by online companies or Internet marketers.Consequently, dissatisfied consumers would feel greater risk in providing personalinformation online, and they would be less likely to trust that online companies orInternet marketers would handle their disclosed online data in good faith.

Research has shown that the psychological contract violation of individual onlinemerchants considerably damages the trust of Internet users in the community ofonline sellers (Goles et al., 2009; Pavlou & Gefen, 2005). Accordingly, prior negativeexperiences of online privacy invasion can not only heighten consumers’ riskperception of online disclosure directly (Bansal et al., 2010) but also undermine theirtrust in online companies, Internet marketers, or laws to protect online privacy(Yang, 2012).

According to the findings of previous research, Internet users would take publicor private actions to mitigate their heightened privacy concerns after they discoveredthat an implied social contract had been breached by social networking websites (Son& Kim, 2008; Yang, 2012). One important online privacy protection measure is toreport misuses or abuses of privacy to the relevant authority. In this sense, as victimsof prior negative experience of online disclosure, consumers would be more likely toexpect the government to intervene in addressing their grievances. However, theywould be less likely to support the industry’s self-regulation of the misuse and abuseof personal information on the Internet.

Consumers’ prior negative experiences were found to be barriers to consumer’sparticipation in Internet marketing and e-commerce. For example, Cho and Cheon

Chinese Journal of Communication 5

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

(2004) found that prior negative experiences with Internet advertising led users toavoid Internet advertising. In a study of American college students, Yang (2011)found that prior negative experience of online disclosure not only significantlyincreased their online privacy concerns but also reduced their time spent on SNSs.Thus, it is possible that after Chinese Internet users have a negative experience inwhich online companies invaded their privacy or mishandled their personalinformation, they would refrain from or discontinue patronizing social networkingwebsites. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

H1: The prior negative experiences of young Chinese consumers regarding onlinedisclosure will (a) increase their online information privacy concerns, (b)increase their perceived risk of online disclosure, and (c) undermine their trust inonline companies, Internet marketers, and laws to protect online privacy.

H2: The prior negative experiences of young Chinese consumers regarding onlinedisclosure will (a) enhance their support for governmental regulation and (b)reduce their support for self-regulation of social media advertising by theindustry.

H3: The prior negative experiences of young Chinese consumers regarding onlinedisclosure will reduce the amount of time they spend on social networkingwebsites.

Online privacy concerns, trust, and perceived risk

Trust can be conceptualized as the degree to which Internet users believe onlinecompanies, marketers, and laws are dependable in protecting consumers’ personalinformation (Malhotra et al., 2004). In addition, Internet users reasonably expect thatonline companies and marketers will abide by privacy laws and use their disclosedpersonal information only for the approved purpose(s). From a social contractperspective, when parties are in a contractual relationship, one party must assumethat the other will act responsibly to fulfill its promises (Okazaki et al., 2009). In thissense, consumers have often given online companies a confidence vote beforeproviding their personal information to them. However, their trust needs to bemaintained. In addition to other measures, addressing consumers’ online privacyconcerns helps to build their trust in online companies (Rifon, LaRose, & Choi,2005). On the other hand, Metzger (2004) found that Internet users’ privacy concernsnegatively influenced their trust in websites. Similarly, consumers’ informationprivacy concerns negatively affect their trust in the commitment of online companiesto protect their personal information (Malhotra et al., 2004) and their trust in theproper handling by mobile advertisers of their personal information (Okazaki et al.,2009). Chinese empirical studies found that proper protection of online privacy couldbuild Chinese consumers’ trust in commercial websites (e.g., Cao, Chu, & Lu, 2006;Shao &Meng, 2005; Wang, 2008; Zhang, 2008). Conversely, the following hypothesisasserts:

H4: The online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers’ will undermine theirtrust in online companies, marketers, and laws for protecting online privacy.

Perceived risk can be defined as the extent to which Internet users are uncertainabout the negative consequences of providing personal information to online companiesand marketers (Okazaki et al., 2009; Pavlou, 2003). Because of the impersonal anddistant nature of Internet marketing, Internet users perceive a risk that online companies

6 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

will behave in an opportunistic manner by mishandling their personal information. Inaddition, considering various security threats to online companies’ databases, Internetusers are also uncertain whether hackers would leak, breach, or steal their personalinformation (Pavlou, 2003). Hence, consumers’ perceived risk would be exacerbated bytheir elevated information privacy concerns (e.g., Malhotra et al., 2004; Okazaki et al.,2009). Similarly, Chinese empirical studies showed that Internet users’ online privacyconcerns could increase their perceived risks of engaging in e-commerce activities (e.g.,Dong, Li, & Yang, 2005; Jing, Zhou, & Wang, 2007; Yang, Qian, & Pang 2011). Thus,we expect that:

H5: The online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers will increase theirperceived risk of online disclosure.

Trust plays a central role in determining consumers’ risk-taking behaviors, such asonline purchasing and disclosing personal information to Internet marketers (e.g., Luo,2002; Sirdeshmukh, Singh, & Sabol, 2002). Previous studies suggested that trust couldmitigate consumers’ perceived risk of disclosing personal information to direct marketersand conducting online transactions and thus reduce consumers’ uncertainty ofparticipating in e-commerce and interactive marketing activities (McKnight, Choudhury,& Kacmar, 2002; Malhotra et al., 2004; Pavlou, 2003; Okazaki et al., 2009). Chineseempirical research has corroborated that online consumers’ perceived risks and trust arenegatively related (e.g., Chen, Xu,&Mao, 2010; Lin, Lu, &Lu, 2011; Yang,Qian, & Pang,2011; Zhao & Ji, 2010). Moreover, Chen et al. (2010) found that perceived trust in SNSssignificantly mitigated consumers’ perceived privacy risks. Hence, we hypothesize that:

H6: Young Chinese consumers’ trust in online companies, marketers, and laws toprotect their online privacy will significantly decrease their perceived risk indisclosing personal information online.

Predicting regulatory support

Government and industry can utilize six regulatory models to protect onlineconsumers’ personal data: no policy, self-help, voluntary control, data commissioner,licensing, and registration (Rose, 2006). While the People’s Congress is still working ona national law to protect Chinese citizens’ online information, observers warnbusinesses that the new Chinese privacy law might be more stringent than Westernprivacy laws (e.g., Antisdel & Ghalayini, 2011). In the near future, China’s StateAdministration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) will tighten its regulatory controlsin order to protect the online privacy of Chinese consumers (Yang & Zhou, 2009). Atthe same time, Chinese online companies have tried to take the matter into their ownhands by forming a self-regulatory alliance – the Internet Society of China – and issueda Public Pledge of Self-Regulation and Professional Ethics for China Internet Industry.Accordingly, this study examines the support of young Chinese Internet users for thegovernment regulation and industry self-regulation of social media advertising toprovide guidance to policy makers and industry practitioners.

To address online privacy concerns, consumers will adopt various online privacyprotection measures that are either passive or proactive. Studies in the US identified aconsistently positive relationship between the levels of privacy concerns andprotection behaviors (Lwin,Wirtz, &William, 2007;Milne, Rohm, & Bahl, 2004; Son& Kim, 2008; Yang, 2012). The same relationship was identified in a study of online

Chinese Journal of Communication 7

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

privacy in Australia, India, South Korea, and Singapore (Cho, Rivera-Sanchez, &Lim, 2009). An important measure is to report online privacy abuses or misuses to theauthority, that is, to ask for stricter government regulations (Son & Kim, 2008).Therefore, we formulate that:

H7: The online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers will (a) enhance theirsupport for government regulation and (b) reduce their support for the self-regulation of social media advertising.

If Chinese online companies and Internet markers act responsibly and complywith Chinese self-regulatory rules, they will honor their implied social contract withChinese consumers and gain consumer trust. In return, consumers will be generousand support their procedural rights to implement self-regulation. In fact, Okazaki andassociates (2009) found that, in Japanese consumers, trust led to their support of self-regulation in mobile advertising. Hence, we propose that:

H8: Young Chinese consumers’ trust in online companies, marketers and laws toprotect online privacy will (a) reduce their support for governmental regulationand (b) enhance their support for the self-regulation of social media advertising.

On the other hand, when consumers are uncertain about the security of and controlover their online personal information, they would prefer stricter or even centralizedregulation. Following a negative experience of online privacy invasion, they wouldprobably support government regulation to seek justice (Culnan & Bies, 2003) and/orpower balance (Lwin et al., 2007). This assumption was supported empirically by aJapanese study of mobile advertising (Okazaki et al., 2009). Previous studies have alsoindicated that Chinese consumers with high perceptions of privacy risk would be morelikely to adopt online privacy protection behaviors, including reporting to an authority(e.g., Xie, Li, & Cui, 2012). Research also shows that Chinese consumers are more likelyto support the government regulation of advertising and favor rigorous advertisingregulation than U.S. consumers (Gao & Zhang, 2011). The heightened risk perceptionsof online disclosure will provide a catalyst for their cultural inclination to support thestronger government regulation of social media advertising. Hence, we assume that:

H9: The perceived risk of online disclosure by young Chinese consumers will (a)enhance their support for governmental regulation and (b) reduce their supportfor the self-regulation of social media advertising.

Social media use and regulatory support

Heavy SNS users are more inclined to share much personal information with friends,relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances through social media than others in order tostrengthen their social relationships (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). In addition, frequent SNSvisitors tend to have more trust in SNSs than others, especially when online companiesand marketers honor the implied social contract to protect the personal information ofusers (Fogel & Nehmad, 2009). Accordingly, SNS users are comfortable in disclosingtheir personal information on SNS. It is reasonable to expect that young Chinese heavyusers of SNS are more likely to trust SNSs to protect their online privacy and to supportindustry self-regulation than light SNS users. Hence, we anticipate that

H10: SNS use by young Chinese consumers will (a) reduce their support forgovernmental regulation and (b) enhance their support for the self-regulation ofsocial media advertising.

8 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Material and method

In spring 2012, a written survey was administered by cooperating professors at five

public universities in Beijing, China. The sample of university students is suitable for

this study, considering that 52.6% of SNS users are young adults aged between 20 and

29, 72.9% of whom are Internet users in China (CNNIC, 2009; CNNIC, 2012).Since the survey questionnaire was in English, it was translated into Chinese by the

first author and then back translated by the second author to confirm the content

validity. The questionnaire consists of 38 questions regarding their use of social

networking websites, a four-item scale of Internet users’ prior negative experiences (Cho

& Cheon, 2004), Smith et al.’s (1996) 15-item scale of concerns about information

privacy (CFIP), Merisavo et al.’s (2007) three-item scale of Internet users’ trust, three

measures of consumer support for government regulation and self-regulation adapted

fromBarksdale et al. (1982), in addition to demographic questions.With the exception of

social media use and demographic questions, most measures use a five-point Likert scale.Using SPSS-18 and AMOS-18, the dataset collected by the survey was subjected

to statistical analyses that included t tests, confirmatory factory analysis, principal

axis factoring analysis, and structural equation modeling.A total of 489 college students voluntarily participated in our survey. The

descriptive statistics of the respondents are reported in Table 1. The majority of

participants were females (75.9%). Most were between 17 and 28 years (99%). Their

family annual income was nearly normally distributed and slightly skewed to lower

income brackets. Similarly, their personal monthly income was evenly distributed. On

average, Chinese college students spend 138.7 minutes daily on SNSs.Table 2 presents Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (a) of eight adapted scales and the

results of the principle axis factoring analyses with varimax rotation. A liberal

minimum requirement for scale reliability is a ¼ 0.60 (Churchill, 1979; Peter, 1979)

although some scholars recommended a stricter minimum requirement of 0.70 (e.g.,

Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). In addition, all eight scales satisfactorily demonstrated

that the extracted variance was above the recommended level of 0.50 (Fornell &

Larcker, 1981). Therefore, the performances of the six scales were very satisfactory,

and the reliability of two scales is considered acceptable.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of Chinese respondents (N ¼ 489).

Male Female Mean SDGender 24.1% 75.9% Age 20.26 1.76

Chinese Family Income (SES) Chinese Personal Income

,24,000 yuan 15.1% ,300 yuan 24.9%24,001 – 36,000 yuan 15.1% 301 – 600 yuan 13.3%36,001 – 48,000 yuan 19.6% 601 – 900 yuan 16.8%48,001 – 60,000 yuan 13.3% 901 – 1200 yuan 23.1%

60,001 – 72,000 yuan 10.8% 1201 – 1500 yuan 13.3%.72,000 yuan 26.0% .1500 yuan 8.6%

(Minutes) Mean SD Median Mode RangeSocial Media Use 138.7 132.03 120 60 0–720

Chinese Journal of Communication 9

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Results

Tests were run to determine gender differences in the key concepts. The resultsdemonstrated some gender differences in online privacy concerns, trust, risk, andsupport for government regulation between the male and female respondents whenequal variances of the two groups were not assumed. The female respondents weremore worried about their online privacy (t ¼ 4.10, df ¼ 163, p , .01), less trustful ofonline companies and laws to protect their online privacy (t ¼ –2.42, df ¼ 179,p ¼ .016), more supportive of the government regulation of social media advertising(t ¼ 2.85, df ¼ 171, p , .01), and perceived more risk to disclose personalinformation online than the young Chinese men (t ¼ 3.56, df ¼ 172, p , .01).

The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the CFIP measurementmodel fit the survey data very well: x2 ¼ 220.44, df ¼ 83, p , .01; Normed x2 ¼ 2.66;RMSEA ¼ 0.058; TLI ¼ 0.965; CFI ¼ 0.972. It outperformed four conventionalstandards: the normed chi-square (the model chi-square divided by the degree offreedom) in the 2:1 or 3:1 range (Carmines & McIver, 1981), the root mean squareerror of approximation (RMSEA) # .06, the Tucker-Lewis index (TLI) $ .95, andthe comparative fit index (CFI) $ .90 (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Schumacker & Lomax,2004). Therefore, the CFIP model was considered a satisfactory measure of the onlineprivacy concerns of young Chinese SNS users, and it was included in further analyses.

The maximum likelihood method of structural equation modeling was applied tofit two research models to the survey data and test our hypotheses. Figures 1 and 2present the tested structural models with standardized path estimates and criticalratios. Table 3 displays the model testing results.

The two research models achieved good fit. The results satisfied threeconventional standards: the normed chi-square (the model chi-square divided bythe degree of freedom) in the 2:1 or 3:1 range (Carmines &McIver, 1981), RMSEA#.06, TLI $ .95, and CFI $ .90 (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Schumacker & Lomax, 2004).The TLI was a little below .95, but it penalized the complexity of the tested model, andits cutoff value of .95 is probably too stringent to test the hypotheses (Marsh, Hau, &Wen, 2004). Therefore, the fit of the two models was deemed adequate.

Hypotheses 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, and 3 assess the direct influences of prior negativeexperience of online disclosure. The path estimates shown in Figures 1 and 2supported H1a and H1b but did not confirm H1c. The prior negative experiences of

Table 2. Mean scores, scale reliability and EFA results.

Construct Mean Cronbach a Variance explained

Prior negative experience 3.00 .659 51.0%

Collection (CFIP subscale) 3.89 .814 64.6%Secondary use (CFIP subscale) 4.26 .910 78.8%Improper access (CFIP subscale) 4.21 .885 81.3%

Error (CFIP subscale) 3.54 .885 74.5%Concern for Information Privacy (CFIP) 3.96 .915 72.0%Perceived trust 2.93 .673 63.0%Perceived risk 3.72 .743 56.2%

Note: Variance Explained ¼ Extraction sums of squared loadings of principal axis factoring.N ¼ 489.

10 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

young Chinese consumers in online information disclosure strongly increased their

online information privacy concerns and their perceived risk of online disclosure but

did not undermine their trust in online companies, marketers, and laws to protect

online privacy. H2a and H2b were both rejected because the prior negative

experiences of young Chinese consumers in online disclosure did not directly support

government regulation and or reduce their support for industry self-regulation.

Hypothesis 3 was also rejected because prior negative experiences in online disclosure

did not inhibit young Chinese consumers from using SNS.However, the online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers considerably

decreased their trust in online companies, marketers, and laws to protect online

privacy, which supported H4. At the same time, the online privacy concerns of young

Chinese consumers greatly elevated their perceived risks of online disclosure. Thus,

H5 was also supported. Surprisingly, their trust in online companies, marketers, and

laws did not reduce their perceived risk at all. Therefore, H6 was rejected.The results showed that the online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers

significantly supported the government regulation of social media advertising, but it

0.68

0.92

Collection

UnauthorizedSecondary use

ImproperAccess

ErrorPerceived

Risk

SocialMediaUse

Support forGovernmentRegulation

0.07 (ns)

0.06 (ns)

–0.04 (ns)

0.20 (3.84**)

0.50 (7.58**)

–.14 (–2.41*)

–0.01 (ns)

0.11 (2.89**)

0.23 (2.67**)

–0.01 (ns)

0.72(12.96**)0.33 (3.31**)

0.99

0.50

Online PrivacyConcerns

Trust

Prior NegativeExperience

Figure 1. The tested structural equation model A with standardized path estimates.Note: Significance of the path estimates is shown in parentheses (critical ratio). *p , .05,

**p , .01, ns ¼ not significant. Model fit: x2 ¼ 905.20, df ¼ 357, p , .01; RMSEA ¼ 0.056;TLI ¼ 0.919; CFI ¼ 0.928. N ¼ 489.

Chinese Journal of Communication 11

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

did not weaken their support for the industry’s self-regulation. Thus, H7a was

supported, by H7b was rejected.H8a was not supported, but H8b was supported. The trust of young Chinese

consumers in online companies, marketers, and laws to protect their online privacy

considerably enhanced their support for the self-regulation of social media

advertising. However, their trust also strengthened their support for the government

regulation of social media advertising.As predicted, the perceived risk of online disclosure by young Chinese consumers

induced their strong support of the government regulation of social media advertising.

Thus, H9a was supported. Contrary to our H9b, their perceived risk did not predict

their support for the industry self-regulation. Therefore, H9b was rejected.Hypothesis 10a had no empirical support, that is, the use of SNSs by young

Chinese consumers is not related to their support of the government regulation of

social media advertising. However, H10b obtained some marginal support ( p ¼ .067)

as their use of SNS led to the support of industrial self-regulation to some extent.

Table 3. Fit indices for the research model shown in Figure 1.

Model x2(df) Nmd x2 RMSEA TLI(NNFI) CFI

Research Model A 905.20 (357)* 2.54 0.056 0.919 0.928

Research Model B 912.69 (357)* 2.56 0.056 0.916 0.926

Note: RMSEA: root mean square error of approximation, TLI: the Tucker-Lewis index orNNFI: non-normed fit index, CFI: comparative fit index. * p , .01. N ¼ 489.

0.63

0.87

Collection

UnauthorizedSecondary use

ImproperAccess

Error

0.50 (7.60**)

0.21 (3.87**)

–0.14 (–2.39*)

PerceivedRisk

SocialMediaUse

Support forSelf-Regulation

0.07 (ns)

0.00 (ns)

–0.04 (ns)

0.01 (ns)

0.08 (1.83) (p = 0.067)

–0.01 (ns)

0.30 (6.98**)

0.16 (ns)

0.97

0.49 0.72 (12.96**)

Online PrivacyConcerns

Prior NegativeExperience

Trust

Figure 2. The tested structural equation model B with standardized path estimates.Note: Significance of the path estimates is shown in parentheses (critical ratio). *p , .05,

**p , .01, ns ¼ not significant. Model fit: x2 ¼ 912.69, df ¼ 357, p , .01; RMSEA ¼ 0.056;

TLI ¼ 0.916; CFI ¼ 0.926. N ¼ 489.

12 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Discussion and implications

Based on social contract theory, our Chinese study tested and expanded the previousresearch models (Malhotra et al., 2004; Okazaki et al., 2009) of the effects of prior

negative experiences of online disclosure on the regulatory support. The two

conceptual models fit well to our survey data and shed light on potential causal

relationships between prior negative experience, online information privacy concerns,

trust, perceived risk, social media use, and support for advertising regulation. Themodel testing results provided valuable insights for social media researchers, policy

makers, and Internet industry practitioners.The study showed that Smith et al.’s (1996) 15-item CFIP scale could be applied

to measure the online information privacy concerns of Chinese Internet users. Thisfinding suggests that, in China, young Internet users are quite worried about the

collection of personal information, unauthorized secondary use, improper access to

online data, and inaccuracy of online personal databases. Both the industry and

academia should be clearly aware of the fact that contemporary young ChineseInternet users are very concerned about their online privacy.

To address the privacy concerns of SNS users, interactive marketers and social

media companies should provide an appropriate notice or warning about their

practices in collecting personal information online. In addition, SNS operators should

assure SNS users that they have fortified their website security to prevent theunauthorized secondary use of their users’ online personal data as well as the improper

access to their online data. They should also allow SNS users to check the accuracy of

their online personal data and to update their personal profiles in a timely and effortless

manner.Significantly, this study revealed that the prior negative experiences of young

Chinese consumers regarding online disclosure greatly increases their concerns about

the privacy of online information and considerably heightens their risk perceptions of

online disclosure. These findings are generally consistent with previous studies (e.g.,Bansal et al., 2010; Okazaki et al., 2009; Pavlou & Gefen, 2005; Son & Kim, 2008;

Yang, 2012). The results showed that the breach of an implied social contract by

mishandling online information would immediately increase the online privacy

concerns and risk perceptions of young Chinese consumers. However, a negative

experience might not directly influence young Chinese consumers in their support ofgovernment regulation or industry self-regulation, probably because this effect was

fully mediated by their online privacy concerns and perceived risk. The fact that it did

not undermine their trust immediately might be explained by their low initial trust in

online companies, marketers, and laws to protect online privacy (mean ¼ 2.93 on ascale of 1–5). Surprisingly, prior negative experiences of online disclosure did not

reduce the time spent on social networking websites. This can be partly explained by

the fact that the majority of our respondents had not suffered from online privacy

abuse (mean ¼ 3 on a scale of 1–5). The majority of Chinese Internet users usuallyuse pseudonyms when they register on SNSs (DCCI, 2011), which might protect them

against the online invasion of privacy. In addition, the scale measured their prior

negative experience of online disclosure in general.Nevertheless, SNS owners, operators, and online marketers should act

responsibly when they try to monetize subscribers’ profiles by targeting ads or

supplying their data to third parties. When these subscribers perceive the abuse or

Chinese Journal of Communication 13

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

misuse of their online privacy, their online information privacy concerns will beexacerbated and their risk perceptions heightened accordingly. Finally, they willhesitate to divulge their personal information on SNSs and take protective measures,such as reporting the abuse to an authority (Son & Kim, 2008).

The results of testing the model demonstrated that online privacy concerns ofyoung Chinese consumers can directly enhance their support of the governmentregulation of social media advertising. These concerns can also intensify theirperceived risks of privacy invasion and undermine their trust in online companies,marketers, and laws. Furthermore, trust in online companies, marketers, andlaws to protect online privacy does not mitigate their perceived risk. This study’sfindings showed this relationship between online privacy concerns, trust, risk, andregulatory support, thus validating previous studies of e-commerce and interactivemarketing (e.g., Malhotra et al., 2004; McKnight et al., 2002; Pavlou, 2003; Okazakiet al., 2009; Yang, 2012). However, the relationship of trust and risk shown in theresults of the present study is inconsistent with the current literature.

Our findings have important implications for Internet companies and marketersin terms of social media marketing. Online companies and marketers should improvetheir communication strategies to increase the awareness of Internet users regardingtheir online information privacy policies and to minimize their online privacyconcerns. Advertising and public relations techniques should be utilized to build atrustworthy reputation in terms of online information privacy in order to minimizenegative media coverage on privacy issues concerning SNSs. The application ofresponsive and proactive customer relationship management (CRM) is stronglyadvised to encourage the continued use of current SNS users and attract newsubscribers. A competent CRM team should closely monitor the negative commentsof dissatisfied SNS users and immediately make necessary adjustments to addressthese concerns.

This study also found that the trust of young Chinese consumers enhanced theirsupport for the self-regulation of social media advertising, whereas perceived privacyrisk led to firm support of government regulation. Additionally, they exhibited lowperceived trust (mean ¼ 2.93 on a scale of 1–5) in online companies, Internetmarketers, laws to protect online privacy, and high-risk perceptions of onlinedisclosure (mean ¼ 3.72 on a scale of 1–5).

Finally, it was surprising that trust also lent significant support to governmentregulation. It makes sense that young Chinese consumers would allow social mediacompanies and marketers to self-regulate if they trusted that their online personalinformation would be handled properly and that the implied social contract would behonored by online companies and marketers. However, when they were worriedabout disclosing personal information online and that the implied social contractwould be breached, they were more inclined to seek government controls to addresstheir online privacy concerns. Their perceived trust in online companies andmarketers should be measured separately from their trust in laws to protect onlineprivacy in the future as, in this study, their trust was positively correlated to theirsupport for government regulation.

These findings suggest that winning the trust of social media users and reducetheir perceived risk of online disclosure could certainly build public support for theself-regulation of social media advertising and weaken their support for governmentcontrol. Online companies and marketers usually prefer self-regulation because it can

14 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

often improve business efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Therefore, theindustry should implement their online privacy policies honestly and follow the bestpractices with the long-term goal of warding off government regulation. In the light ofimminent stricter Chinese privacy laws and government enforcement, it is high timefor Chinese Internet marketers to adopt effective strategies to earn consumers’ onlinetrust and minimize their perceived risks in disclosing personal information formarketing communication purposes. Chinese Internet companies and marketers firstneed to reduce the number of complaints about the invasion of online privacy that arefiled with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), its localbureaus, and the China Consumer Association. The SAIC is the main officialgovernment agency for consumer protection in China, while the China ConsumerAssociation and its local branches are quasi-government agencies that settleconsumer complaints under the guidance of the SAIC (Gao, 2008). Recently, theChina Consumer Association (2011) complained about the automatic collection ofsmartphone users’ personal information and called for better protection of theprivacy of consumers’ data.

The present study also identified a positive correlation between the SNS use ofyoung Chinese consumers and their support for self-regulation ( p ¼ .067). Thissuggests that some heavy SNS users in China can be convinced to become staunchsupporters of the industry self-regulation. It is imperative for Chinese SNS operatorsto increase the number of heavy users. They can gain popular support for industryself-regulation and profit from greater marketing and advertising opportunities totarget frequent SNS visitors.

Conclusion

This study showed that the prior negative experiences of young Chinese consumers inonline disclosure have significant influences on their online privacy concerns andperceived risks of online disclosure. The present research also showed that the onlineprivacy concerns, trust and risk of young Chinese consumers mediated the effects oftheir prior negative experiences in online disclosure on their support of governmentregulation and the self-regulation of social media advertising. In turn, their perceivedtrust and risk mediated the effects of online information privacy concerns on theirsupport for government regulation.

The results also confirmed that Chinese Internet users are quite concerned aboutthe collection of personal information, unauthorized secondary use, improper accessto online data, and the inaccuracy of online personal databases. Heavy SNS users inChina are more likely than others to support industry self-regulation to some extent.

Limitations and future research

Because the survey data were collected from a large convenience sample of collegestudents at five public universities in Beijing, the external validity of the current studyshould be strengthened by future research. The participants in the present study donot accurately represent China’s college student population. Although no genderdifference was identified in the online privacy concerns of young Chinese consumers,future studies should include more males as the majority of participants (75.9%) werefemale in this study.

Chinese Journal of Communication 15

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Future studies should investigate the influence of other factors on the onlineprivacy concerns of social media users, such as the sensitivity of the informationdisclosed, familiarity with the entity, and compensation. It might be worthwhile toexplore the relationship of online privacy concerns, trust, risk, intent, and behavior indisclosing personal information in social media. Further studies should alsoinvestigate whether online privacy concerns, trust, and perceived risk predict privacyprotection behaviors of SNS users, including refusal, misrepresentation, removal,negative word-of-mouth, direct complaint to online companies, and reporting tothird-party organizations. It would also be interesting to study these topics in a cross-cultural context.

Notes on contributors

Hongwei Yang (PhD, Southern Illinois University), Associate Professor of Advertising,

Department of Communication, Appalachian State University. He is keenly interested inadvertising via new media (Internet, mobile devices, social media, etc.). He is also interested ininternational marketing and media planning as well as the regulation and self-regulation of new

media advertising. He has published research in academic journals, such as the InternationalJournal of Mobile Marketing, the Chinese Journal of Communication, the Journal of Targeting,Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, the Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics,

the Journal of International Consumer Marketing, and the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction,Dissatisfaction, & Complaining Behavior.

Liu Hui (PhD, University of South Carolina at Columbia), Associate Professor of theDepartment of Journalism at Beijing International Studies University (BISU), School ofInternational Communications. He has published research in academic journals, such as the

International Journal of Mobile Marketing, the Chinese Journal of Communication, the Journalof Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, the Asia Pacific Journal of Marketingand Logistics, and the Journal of International Consumer Marketing.

References

Antisdel, T., & Ghalayini, T. (2011). The challenge of conducting data collections andinvestigations under unclear data privacy rules. China Business Review, 38(4), 46–49.

Bansal, G., Zahedi, F. M., & Gefen, D. (2010). The impact of personal dispositions on

information sensitivity, privacy concern and trust in disclosing health information online.Decision Support Systems, 49(2), 138–150.

Barksdale, H. C., Perreault, W. D. Jr, Arndt, J., Barnhill, J. A., French, W. A., Halliday, M.,et al., (1982). A cross-national survey of consumer attitudes towards marketing practices,

consumerism and government regulations. Columbia Journal of World Business, 17(2),71–86.

Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship.

Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

Cao, Z., Chu, R., & Lu, X. (2006). An empirical research of factors influencing transactional

trust under online environment: An empirical research from Taiwan. Nankai BusinessReview, 9(4), 91–95 [in Chinese].

Carmines, E. G., &McIver, J. P. (1981). Analyzing models with unobserved variables: Analysisof covariance structures. In G. W. Bohrnstedt & E. F. Borgatta (Eds.), Social

measurement: Current issues (pp. 65–115). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Chen, X., Xu, X., & Mao, R. (2010, November). Self-disclosure under social networking sites:

A risk-utility decision model. Paper presented at the InformationManagement Session of

16 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

the Annual Meeting of China Academy of Management Modernization, Dalian,

Liaoning Province, China.

Cheung, A. S. Y. (2009). China Internet going wild: Cyber-hunting versus privacy protection.

Computer Law & Security Review, 25(3), 275–279.

China Consumer Association. (2011). China Consumer Association calls for better protection

of smartphone users’ personal information. China Brand & Anti-counterfeiting, 7, 84 [in

Chinese].

Cho, C.-H., & Cheon, H. J. (2004). Why do people avoid advertising on the Internet? Journal of

Advertising, 33(4), 89–97.

Cho, H., Rivera-Sanchez, M., & Lim, S. (2009). A multinational study on online privacy:

Global concerns and local responses. New Media & Society, 11(3), 395–416.

Churchill, G. A. Jr (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs.

Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 64–73.

CNNIC. (2009). Research report on China net. Citizens’ use of social network services.

Retrieved from www.cnnic.cn/research/bgxz/sqbg/200911/t20091112_18427.html [in

Chinese].

CNNIC. (2012). The 30th statistical report on internet development in China. Retrieved from

http://www.cnnic.cn/research/bgxz/tjbg/201207/P020120719489935146937.pdf [in Chi-

nese].

Culnan, M. J. (1995). Consumer awareness of name removal procedures: Implications for

direct marketing. Journal of Direct Marketing, 9(2), 10–19.

Culnan, M. J., & Bies, R. J. (2003). Consumer privacy: Balancing economic and justice

considerations. Journal of Social Issues, 59(2), 323–342.

DCCI. (2011). Blue book of social marketing services. Retrieved from www.dcci.com.cn/media/

download/567510a7fc367abdadfb91e23513145263cb.pdf [in Chinese].

Dong, D., Li, G., & Yang, Y. (2005). Research of the perceived risk facets by consumers in

Internet shopping. Chinese Journal of Management, 2(1), 55–60.

Dunfee, T. W., Smith, N. C., & Ross, W. T. Jr (1999). Social contracts and marketing ethics.

Journal of Marketing, 63(3), 14–32.

Dunfee, T. W., & Warren, D. E. (2001). Is Guanxi ethical? A normative analysis of doing

business in China. Journal of Business Ethics, 32(3), 191–204.

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social

capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-

Mediated Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168.

eMarketer Inc. (2012). Total worldwide social network ad revenues continue strong growth.

Retrieved from www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R1008862

FTC (Federal Trade Commission). (1998). Privacy online: A report to Congress. Washington,

DC: Federal Trade Commission.

Fogel, J., & Nehmad, E. (2009). Internet social network communities: Risk taking, trust, and

privacy concerns. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(1), 153–160.

Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable

variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.

Gao, Z. (2008). Controlling deceptive advertising in China: An overview. Journal of Public

Policy & Marketing, 27(2), 165–177.

Gao, Z., & Zhang, H. (2011). A comparative study of Chinese and US consumers’ attitudes

toward advertising regulation. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23(1),

72–90.

Goles, T., Lee, S., Rao, S. V., & Warren, J. (2009). Trust violation in electronic commerce:

Customer concerns and reactions. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 49(4), 1–9.

Hou, L. (2010). Firms’ brand relationship building from a social contracts perspective.

Economic Herald, 4, 86–87 [in Chinese].

Chinese Journal of Communication 17

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Hsu, C.-W. (2004, May 27–31). Possibility and impossibility for global online privacy: A cross-

country examination. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of International

Communication Association, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Hu, L.-t., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis:

Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.

Jing, M., Zhou, Y., & Wang, F. (2007). Empirical study on online shopping perceived risk.

Journal of Systems & Management, 16(2), 164–169 [in Chinese].

Kong, L. (2007). Online privacy in China: A survey on information practices of Chinese

websites. Chinese Journal of International Law, 6(1), 157–183.

Lin, J. (2004). A social contracts approach to social responsibility of firms. Lingnan Journal, 4,

71–75 [in Chinese].

Lin, J., Lu, Y., & Lu, Y. (2011). Dynamic evolution of consumer trust in the mobile commerce

environment. Journal of Management Science, 24(6), 93–103 [in Chinese].

Lowry, P. B., Cao, J., & Everard, A. (2011). Privacy concerns versus desire for interpersonal

awareness in driving the use of self-disclosure technologies: The case of instant messaging

in two cultures. Journal of Management Information Systems, 27(4), 163–200.

Luo, X. (2002). Trust production and privacy concerns on the Internet: A framework based

on relationship marketing and social exchange theory. Industrial MarketingManagement,

31(2), 111–118.

Lwin,M., Wirtz, J., &Williams, J. D. (2007). Consumer online privacy concerns and responses:

a power-responsibility equilibrium perspective. Journal of the Academy of Marketing

Science, 35(4), 572–585.

Ma, X. (2011). On protection of online privacy right: From the angle of Article 36 of the Tort

Liability Law. Legal System and Society, 2, 78–79 [in Chinese].

Madden, N. (2011). Sy Lau. Advertising Age, 82(1), 6.

Malhotra, N. K., Kim, S. S., & Agarwal, J. (2004). Internet users’ information privacy concerns

(IUIPC): The construct, the scale, and a causal model. Information Systems Research, 15

(4), 336–355.

Marsh, H. W., Hau, K.-T., & Wen, Z. (2004). In search of golden rules: Comment on

hypothesis-testing approaches to setting cutoff values for fit indexes and dangers in

overgeneralizing Hu and Bentler’s (1999) findings. Structural Equation Modeling, 11(3),

320–341.

McKnight, D. H., Choudhury, V., & Kacmar, C. (2002). Developing and validating trust

measures for e-commerce: An integrative typology. Information Systems Research, 13(3),

334–359.

Merisavo, M., Kajalo, S., Karjaluoto, H., Virtanen, V., Salmenkivi, S., Raulas, M., et al.,

(2007). An empirical study of the drivers of consumer acceptance of mobile advertising.

Journal of Interactive Advertising, 7(2), 1–17.

Metzger, M. J. (2004). Privacy, trust, and disclosure: Exploring barriers to electronic

commerce. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 9(4), Retrieved from http://

jcmc.indiana.edu/vol9/issue4/metzger.html

Milberg, S. J. H., Smith, J., & Burke, S. J. (2000). Information privacy: Corporate management

and national regulation. Organization Science, 11(1), 35–57.

Milne, G. R., & Gordon, M. E. (1993). Direct mail privacy-efficiency trade-offs within an

implied social contract framework. Journal of Public Policy &Marketing, 12(2), 206–215.

Milne, G. R., Rohm, A. J., & Bahl, S. (2004). Consumers’ protection of online privacy and

identity. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 38(2), 217–232.

Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Okazaki, S., Li, H., & Hirose, M. (2009). Consumer privacy concerns and preference for degree

of regulatory control. Journal of Advertising, 38(4), 63–77.

18 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Pavlou, P. A. (2003). Consumer acceptance of electronic commerce: Integrating trust and

risk with the technology acceptance model. International Journal of Electronic Commerce,

7(3), 101–134.

Pavlou, P. A., & Gefen, D. (2005). Psychological contract violation in online marketplaces:

Antecedents, consequences, and moderating role. Information Systems Research, 16(4),

372–399.

Peter, J. P. (1979). Reliability: A review of psychometric basics and recent marketing practices.

Journal of Marketing Research, 16(1), 6–17.

Phelps, J., Nowak, G., & Ferrell, E. (2000). Privacy concerns and consumer willingness to

provide personal information. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 19(1), 27–41.

Quinn, J. (2010, August 5). Facebook clicks with advertisers. The Daily Telegraph, 3.

Rifon, N. J., LaRose, R., & Choi, S. M. (2005). Your privacy is sealed: Effects of web privacy

seals on trust and personal disclosures. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(2), 339–362.

Rising (Beijing Rising International Software Co., Ltd.). (2009). Report on Social Networking

Websites and Netizens’ Privacy Security. Retrieved from http://it.rising.com.cn/new2008/

News/NewsInfo/2009-03-30/1238378978d52093.shtml [in Chinese].

Rose, E. A. (2006). An examination of the concern for information privacy in the New Zealand

regulatory context. Information & Management, 43(3), 322–335.

Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2004). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling

(Second edition). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Shao, B., & Meng, X. (2005). An empirical study on factors influencing consumer trust in

China’s B2C e-commerce. Science & Technology Progress and Policy, 7, 166–169 [in

Chinese].

Sirdeshmukh, D., Singh, J., & Sabol, B. (2002). Consumer trust, value, and loyalty in relational

exchanges. Journal of Marketing, 66(1), 15–37.

Smith, H. J., Milberg, S. J., & Burke, S. J. (1996). Information privacy: Measuring individuals’

concerns about organizational practices. MIS Quarterly, 20(2), 167–196.

Son, J.-Y., & Kim, S. S. (2008). Internet users’ information privacy protective response: a

taxonomy and a nomological model. MIS Quarterly, 32(3), 503–529.

Stewart, K. A., & Segars, A. H. (2002). An empirical examination of the concern for

information privacy instrument. Information Systems Research, 13(1), 36–49.

Wang, Y. (2008). Empirical study in factors influencing online trust in tourism e-Commerce.

Science and Technology for China Youth, 1, 26–32 [in Chinese].

Westin, A. F. (1967). Privacy and freedom. New York, NY: Atheneum.

Wu, Y., Lau, T., Atkin, D. J., & Lin, C. A. (2011). A comparative study of online privacy

regulations in the US and China. Telecommunications Policy, 35(7), 603–616.

Xie, G., Li, W., & Cui, C. (2012). The empirical research on influencing factors of network

privacy protection behavior intention. East China Economic Management, 26(6),

148–150, 160 [in Chinese].

Xu, M., & Luo, Y. (2010). An interpretation of the Tort Liability Law for online privacy

protection. Legal System and Society, 20, 68–69 [in Chinese].

Xue, H. (2010). Privacy and personal data protection in China: An update for the year end

2009. Computer Law & Security Review, 26(3), 284–289.

Yang, H. (2011, August 10–13). Young American consumers’ social media use, online privacy

concerns, trust, risk, and support for advertising regulation. Paper presented to the

Advertising Division of the AEJMC Annual Convention, St Louis, Missouri, USA.

Yang, H. (2012). Young American consumers’ prior negative experience of online disclosure,

online privacy concerns, and behavioral intent of privacy protection. Journal of Consumer

Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction & Complaining Behavior, 25, 179–202.

Yang, H., & Zhou, L. (2009, May 27–30). A comparative study of regulation and self-

regulation of Internet advertising in United States and China. Paper presented at the

American Academy Advertising Asian-Pacific Conference, Beijing, China.

Chinese Journal of Communication 19

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3

Yang, Q., Qian, X., & Pang, C. (2011). Consumer e-trust and perceived risks for online

payments. Statistical Research, 28(10), 89–97 [in Chinese].Yang, S., Wang, Y., & Wang, K. (2008). The measurement of online users’ privacy concern in

China context. Journal of Information, 10, 3–7 [in Chinese].

Yao, M. Z., & Zhang, J. (2008). Predicting user concerns about online privacy in Hong Kong.CyberPsychology & Behavior, 11(6), 779–781.

Zhang, R. (2010). To what end will be Internet manhunt: From the angle of the tort liability

law. Legal System and Society, 27, 75–76 [in Chinese].Zhang, X. (2008). Consumers’ trust model and a real world data analysis in C2C transactions.

Statistics and Information Forum, 23(3), 61–65, 76 [in Chinese].Zhao, D., & Ji, S. (2010). Trust and perceived risk to online purchase intention: An empirical

study. Journal of Applied Statistics and Management, 29(2), 305–314 [in Chinese].

20 Hongwei (Chris) Yang and Hui Liu

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

App

alac

hian

Sta

te U

nive

rsity

] at

10:

52 0

1 A

ugus

t 201

3