Extending the Privacy Calculus: The Role of Psychological Ownership

Interconnected devices such as smartphones, smartwatches, and smartcars are rapidly becoming ubiquitous everyday companions. The unprecedented streams of data they emit open up vast business opportunities in various fields. Harnessing this potential, however, crucially relies on individuals’ willingness to disclose such emerging forms of personal data. It is against this backdrop that we extend prior research on individuals’ privacy calculus by illuminating the important role of psychological ownership in disclosure decision making. Employing a mixed methods design composed of three studies, we found individuals’ feelings of ownership towards their personal data to negatively affect their willingness to disclose these data – an effect that is mediated by individuals’ privacy concerns. Importantly, continuous trust building and tailored incentive design emerged as two promising managerial remedies available to firms seeking to alleviate the negative relationship between psychological ownership and disclosure intentions