New Media and Privacy the Privacy Paradox in the Digital World: I Will Not Disclose My Data. Actually, I Will ... It Depends

The inconsistency of privacy attitudes and privacy behavior is often referred to as the “privacy paradox”. In this study, we analyze the privacy paradox through a methodology that allows investigating user behavior in relation to transferring personal data or not in a real context. Our intention is to investigate privacy as a negotiation by verifying whether the incongruous consumer behavior known as the privacy paradox also occurs in a real and blind context, and how this is affected by the data commoditization trend.The classical methodology in these types of studies is based on questionnaires administered to participants in an experiment and the questions relate to their intention to disclose their personal information in different hypothetical scenarios. In all these types of research, the respondents know they are participating in an experiment without any real gains or losses as a result of their actions. To understand how users behave when facing the disclosure or otherwise of personal data in a real context, we analyzed ex-post data from different digital campaigns through one of the most frequently used data vault platforms. Via this platform, a company can configure a series of user actions by rewarding them for every action with a discount on a product. Through this platform, we therefore had the opportunity to investigate how real users in real contexts manage the exchange of personal data for discounts on one or more products.