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Defaults, Framing and Privacy: Why Opting In-Opting Out1

Marketing Letters volume 13, pages 5–15 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Differences in opt-in and opt-out responses are an important element of the current public debate concerning on-line privacy and more generally for permission marketing. We explored the issue empirically. Using two on-line experiments we show that the default has a major role in determining revealed preferences for further contact with a Web site. We then explore the origins of these differences showing that both framing and defaults have separate and additive effects in affecting the construction of preferences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Norman Eig Professor of Business, Uris Hall 514, Department of Marketing, Columbia School of Business, Columbia University, 3022 Broadway, New York, 10027

    Eric J. Johnson

  2. Lecturer in Electronic Commerce, Graduate School of Management, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, 6907

    Steven Bellman

  3. Accenture The Wanamaker Building, 100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, PA, 19107

    Gerald L. Lohse

Authors
  1. Eric J. Johnson
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  2. Steven Bellman
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  3. Gerald L. Lohse
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Johnson, E.J., Bellman, S. & Lohse, G.L. Defaults, Framing and Privacy: Why Opting In-Opting Out1 . Marketing Letters 13, 5–15 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015044207315

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015044207315

  • privacy
  • consumer choice
  • framing
  • default effects
  • electronic commerce