As the Internet has saturated the branded marketplace over the last decade, young adolescents, who were once known to use the Internet very little, now have a strong presence. Young adolescents' information disclosure on social networking sites like Facebook and My Space has strengthened parents' worries about loss of privacy (Romer 2006). In response to these emergent concerns, researchers have begun to empirically investigate adolescents and their online privacy concerns (Youn, 2008). These studies have examined older adolescents' (ages 14-18) privacy concerns and their coping behaviors to protect their privacy rights. However, little is known about how younger adolescents (ages 11-13) perceive online privacy and how they respond to it.
Studies that were done by Yan (2005, 2006) uncovered that students in grades 7 and 8 showed an adult level of understanding concerning negative consequences of Internet use in general. Compared with students in grades 4, 5, and 6, seventh and eighth graders were found to understand social concerns, such as online privacy invasion, and where found to convey a cautious attitude toward using email and navigating Web sites (Yan, 2006). These findings point out that this age group has the capability to understand risks caused by privacy loss and link such perceptible risks to their privacy protection behaviors, in general. In a study by Bagnaschi and Geraci (2003), they reported that ten- to twelve-year-olds (55%) and thirteen- to fifteen-year-olds (62%) are more likely to worry about giving out personal information on a Web site than either eight- to nine-year-olds (37%) or sixteen- to seventeen-year-olds (52%).
Many parents, and scholars alike, also worry that adolescents and young adults post personal information on their profiles that make it unsafe and dangerous for them. One study that was done on teenagers’ profiles in MySpace concluded that personal information disclosure on this site is quite uncommon (Hinduja & Patchin, 2008). Most teenagers and young adults tend to withhold personal information, only giving out basics like maybe the state or country with which they are from. Some do not even give their real location or age.
In a study of qualitative in-depth interviews with teens, ages 13-17, Grant (2006) explained major causes for teens' privacy concerns online. Teens were concerned about their online privacy because they were worried about being bombarded with unsolicited commercial messages and being tracked down by marketers, resulting in a loss of control over their private information. In a survey study of teens age 14-18, Youn (2005), measured privacy risks teens are facing. These include emotional discomfort, conflict with parents, wasted time due to managing unsolicited emails, potential monetary loss, and the possible misuse of personal information by companies (Youn, 2005). Furthermore, Youn (2005) found that as teens perceived privacy risks to be more severe, they were less likely to provide their personal information to a Web site.
Milne, Rohm and Bahl (2004), using an online panel and college student sample surveys, found that the level of privacy concerns was a strong predictor of online privacy and identity protection behaviors such as falsifying information, refusing information disclosure or transactions, or removing personal information from lists. Recently, researchers also discovered that apprehensions for online privacy influenced consumers' responses to fabricate their personal information, to implement privacy-enhancing technologies, and to abstain from interacting with a Web site (Lwin, Wirtz and Williams 2007). Researchers found related patterns to those exposed in the adult segment upon analysis of the teen segment. They revealed that privacy concerned teens were more prone to engage in privacy-protecting behaviors (Youn, 2005). For example, concerns about privacy were related to the providing inaccurate information, notifying Internet Service Providers about unwanted emails, and requesting name removal from marketing lists (Youn, 2005). Youn (2005) also found that teens were more likely to falsify or withhold their personal information, as they were increasingly concerned about information disclosure.
Altogether, these findings entail the importance of investigating how this age group deals with privacy and security issues and how they respond to e-marketers' information collection and sharing practices.
