DETERMINANTS AND BEHAVIOURAL CONSEQUENCES OF ONLINE PRIVACY CONCERNS AMONG YOUNG CONSUMERS IN CROATIA

Online privacy concerns have been recognised as an important driver of the growth of digital economy. Although new information and communication technologies are changing business practices significantly and offer new business opportunities, they also raise online privacy concerns. Major issue is to determine how to decrease online privacy concerns and increase consumer confidence in interacting with companies in the online environment. This research seeks to identify influential factors that affect online privacy concerns and their consequences for consumer behaviour. The data collected from student sample were analysed by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and structural equation modelling. Results indicate that third-party seal assurance, previous online experience, time spent online and gender significantly affect privacy concerns, while consumer attitudes towards relationship marketing and income were not shown to have significant impact. When designing privacy policy, marketers should take into consideration those factors to alleviate privacy concerns, which will in turn increase purchases over the Internet. Managerial implications are discussed in the paper.