Regulatory Focus Theory, Trust, and Privacy Concern

TLDR

Relationship marketing requires continuous customer data collection, and prior research has examined two distinct approaches to encourage disclosure—reducing privacy concern and building trust—separately. The study uses regulatory focus theory to integrate the privacy‑concern and trust approaches and examine their distinct response behaviors concurrently. The authors applied regulatory focus theory to combine the privacy‑concern and trust approaches and assess their distinct response behaviors in a unified framework. Across two studies, the model shows that trust mediates fairness perceptions on promotion‑focused behaviors (relational behavior, relationship investment, repatronage intentions), while privacy concern mediates fairness perceptions on prevention‑focused behaviors (defensive, deflective, disruptive behaviors).

Abstract

Relationship marketing typically requires organizations to continually collect customer information. Two distinct approaches coexist to encourage customers to disclose information: reducing privacy concern and building trust, which in the past have been examined in isolation. In the present study, regulatory focus theory is used to integrate both approaches and examine their distinct response behaviors concurrently. The findings are robust across two studies with different methods and contexts. As suggested in the proposed model, trust and privacy concern are the two central mediating variables with differentiated effects on promotion and prevention-focused behaviors. Specifically, trust mediates fairness perceptions on promotion-focused behaviors (i.e., relational behavior, relationship investment, and repatronage intentions), whereas privacy concern mediates fairness perceptions on prevention-focused behaviors (i.e., defensive, deflective, and disruptive behaviors). Implications for theory and practice are discussed.