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220 Henderson, Snyder and Byrd<br />

H8a:Higher levels of technology knowledge increase the privacy concerns of an<br />

individual.<br />

H8b:Higher levels of technology knowledge increase the levels of actual ecommerce<br />

use.<br />

Demographics such as gender, age, and education play a role in an individual’s<br />

privacy concerns. Nickell and Pinto (1986) found that males tend to have more<br />

positive computer attitudes. Harrison and Rainer (1992) found that males exhibited<br />

significantly higher computer skill levels than females. Previous research has found<br />

evidence of a negative relationship between age and acceptance of technological<br />

change (Harrison & Rainer, 1992; Nickell & Pinto, 1986). One study posited that<br />

education is negatively related to computer anxiety (Igbaria & Parsuraman, 1989).<br />

The IBM study found that the younger, more educated, more affluent consumers are<br />

most likely to take steps to protect their privacy (Louis et al., 1999). Therefore, the<br />

following was hypothesized:<br />

H9a:Gender, age, and education have a direct impact on the level of privacy<br />

concerns.<br />

H9b:Gender, age, and education have a direct impact on the level of actual ecommerce<br />

activity.<br />

METHOD<br />

Sample and Procedure<br />

The study was conducted during the spring and summer of 2000 to investigate<br />

the consumer privacy concerns and the relationships with behavioral intention to<br />

provide PII, actual e-commerce activity, and regulatory preferences. Since the<br />

research topic dealt with e-commerce over the Inter<strong>net</strong>, the authors decided to put<br />

the questionnaire on the Inter<strong>net</strong>. A study conducted by Brigham Young University’s<br />

assessment office found that with electronic surveys, the response rate is better than<br />

with traditional mail surveys, the turnaround time is quicker, and data validity is<br />

nearly identical to mail surveys (Lindorf & Wygant, 2000).<br />

Information on the survey was sent via email to the faculty and staff of the<br />

Department of Management at a large university in the southeast United States. In<br />

addition, a request for participants was announced in a few selected undergraduate<br />

management classes. While many criticize the use of students for business and<br />

social science research, other studies found students are adequate surrogates for<br />

decision makers (Hughes & Gibson, 1991; Remus, 1986). In this case, students are<br />

consumers who have to make decisions concerning their use of e-commerce over the<br />

Inter<strong>net</strong> and providing PII to those Web sites. An unexpected group of respondents<br />

came from several participants contacting the authors for permission to give the<br />

survey URL out to people who would be interested in the study.<br />

Copyright © 2003, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written<br />

permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.

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