Online Shoppers Willing to Pay More at Privacy-Protecting Retailers

June 7th, 2007

A study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University Usable Privacy and Security Labs found that consumers choosing to purchase among retailers providing easily accessible privacy information, were willing to pay a premium on websites with more protective privacy practices. The search engine designed for the experiment offered a five-point scale that could match P3P machine-readable privacy statements to the test subject’s privacy preferences for using information. It has long been thought that internet shoppers considered privacy as an afterthought in their purchasing decisions. However, TRUSTe sealholders that have been testing the impact of privacy seals on transactions have known all along that making privacy accessible, reassuring and protective, can build trust and increase engagement. This study offers more evidence that good privacy = good business.

Read the full paper (.pdf)

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