Spiekermann, Et Al., Towards a Value Theory for Personal Data
Journal of Information Technology (2017) 132,–23 62–84 Towards a value theory© 2016 for JIT personal Palgrave Macmillan data All rightsS Spiekermann reserved 0268-3962/17 and J Korunovska 4 www.palgrave.com/journals Research article Towards a value theory for personal data Sarah Spiekermann, Jana Korunovska Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Management Information Systems, Vienna, Austria Correspondence: S Spiekermann, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Management Information Systems, Building D2, Welthandelsplatz 1, Vienna A-1020 Austria. Tel: +43 1 31336 5460; Fax: +43 1 31336 746 Abstract Analysts, investors and entrepreneurs have recognized the value of personal data for Internet economics. Personal data is viewed as ‘the oil’ of the digital economy. Yet, ordinary people are barely aware of this. Marketers collect personal data at minimal cost in exchange for free services. But will this be possible in the long term, especially in the face of privacy concerns? Little is known about how users really value their personal data. In this paper, we build a user-centered value theory for personal data. On the basis of a survey experiment with 1269 Facebook users, we identify core constructs that drive the value of volunteered personal data. We find that privacy concerns are less influential than expected and influence data value mainly when people become aware of data markets. In fact, the consciousness of data being a tradable asset is the single most influential factor driving willingness-to-pay for data. Furthermore, we find that people build a sense of psychological ownership for their data and hence value it more.
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