Digital technologies: tensions in privacy and data

TLDR

Data proliferation has transformed marketing, while rising privacy concerns have reshaped consumer‑firm relations and spurred regulatory and behavioral changes. The study aims to analyze privacy tensions arising from firm‑consumer interactions mediated by digital technologies, proposing a framework of tenets, propositions, and a data‑strategy typology to guide firm performance amid privacy concerns. The authors use structuration theory and privacy literature to develop a conceptual framework, drawing on interviews with senior managers and consumers, and propose tenets, propositions, and a data‑strategy typology for data monetization and sharing. The analysis identifies four distinct firm types with differing privacy‑related behaviors and outlines future research directions from academic and practical viewpoints.

Abstract

Driven by data proliferation, digital technologies have transformed the marketing landscape. In parallel, significant privacy concerns have shaken consumer-firm relationships, prompting changes in both regulatory interventions and people's own privacy-protective behaviors. With a comprehensive analysis of digital technologies and data strategy informed by structuration theory and privacy literature, the authors consider privacy tensions as the product of firm-consumer interactions, facilitated by digital technologies. This perspective in turn implies distinct consumer, regulatory, and firm responses related to data protection. By consolidating various perspectives, the authors propose three tenets and seven propositions, supported by interview insights from senior managers and consumer informants, that create a foundation for understanding the digital technology implications for firm performance in contexts marked by growing privacy worries and legal ramifications. On the basis of this conceptual framework, they also propose a data strategy typology across two main strategic functions of digital technologies: data monetization and data sharing. The result is four distinct types of firms, which engage in disparate behaviors in the broader ecosystem pertaining to privacy issues. This article also provides directions for research, according to a synthesis of findings from both academic and practical perspectives.