The main objective is to understand the importance of privacy in the consumption of social media through the narratives of consumers. Therefore, the main idea behind this research is to enrich our understanding of the concept of privacy and understand the importance of privacy in the minds of consumers.
Research background
According to Belk, to find the answers, it is necessary to "first gain some understanding of the meanings that consumers attach to possessions" (p. 139). Only after gaining an understanding of the meanings is it possible to understand consumer behavior.
Research objectives
Exploring possible interpretations of privacy or what meanings privacy has in consumers' lives in the context of social media will be central to this study. In turn, categorizing privacy meanings will expand the field of theoretical discussion of privacy and portray privacy as a multidimensional phenomenon that is connected to one's identity.
Research questions
Definitions of key concepts
Structure of the study
Privacy in consumer research
However, a person will be more concerned about maintaining their own privacy, if a person has a great desire to control personal information (Phelps et al., 2001), especially if the information is considered sensitive or intimate for the person become In the case of young adults, they have been found to be very concerned about their privacy and at the same time their behavior reveals that they freely share personal information and do not effectively adjust privacy settings on social networking sites (Norberg, Horne and Horne, 2007).
Multidimensional nature of privacy
The informational dimension relates to a person's ability to control personal information and one's right to disclose it to others. DeCew (1997) later introduced a similar concept, which included dimensions of information privacy, or “control over information about oneself” (p. 14) where the person can decide who can access personal information and for what purposes, accessibility privacy related to sensory or physical access to a person, and expressive privacy, or the expression and protection of a person's "self-identity or personality through speech or activity" (p. 77).
Privacy concept - Two theories of privacy
Types of privacy
A person can negotiate one's own privacy state of reserve and intimacy toward others by becoming more open (Westin, 1967; Margulis, 2003b; Westin, 2003). Each state can be managed and optimized by allowing access to the self or group by closing or opening borders to others.
Privacy functions
In the case of one's group with family or friends, access could be closed to outsiders in order to achieve intimacy with friends or family (Altman, 1975). By effectively controlling the openness and closedness of the self to others, it is possible to function better in society, as well as to define the self by defining one's limits and boundaries.
Privacy meanings
Overall, privacy is context dependent and important for each person because it provides people with experiences that “support normal psychological functioning, stable interpersonal relationships, and personal development” (Margulis, 2005: 7). In general, philosophers view privacy as a necessary part of human existence, while psychologists see it for themselves.
Privacy, the self and others
In general, privacy from the self can be seen as a “gatekeeper of the flow of information,” where the person balances the desire for privacy and the desire for disclosure in order to enrich the relationship and maintain one's identity (Norberg et al., 2009). With privacy playing such a large role, Norberg and colleagues suggested including the self in the privacy debate, because introducing a new perspective and understanding the privacy of the person behind the self will lead to "more effective policy" and positive relationships in the future.
Privacy and social media
Since privacy will be studied in the context of social media, it is necessary to consider its specific characteristics from the privacy point of view presented by different fields of study. Thus, when disclosing one's information, one must be cautious and willing to anticipate the possibilities of what may happen in the future and how the information may be interpreted by future audiences as an artifact of one's past.
Meaning-based approach
Furthermore, meanings represent a new quality that can change for a person when unpredictable circumstances arise or when important life situations and experiences affect the coherence of the person's self (Belk, 1988; Arnould and Thompson, 2005; John et al., 2011) . Thus, the personal self refers to the qualities that shape one's ability to learn, while the social self refers to the qualities that shape one's social relationships.
The self – ”I” and ”me”
The core self and extended self
In other words, by controlling the sharing and access to information, the core self can reach the extended self. Thus, it could be assumed that for the extended self, possessions not only represent symbolic entities that have emotional, cultural, and historical meanings ( Belk, 1988 ), but also, from a privacy perspective, are a tool for extending the self into the environment , protect yourself and strengthen your identity.
Personal and social self
Furthermore, the complexities and contradictions of personal cultures provide people with different identities and at the same time the choices of the components of self-identity. Furthermore, consumers are motivated to positively differentiate themselves from other out-groups (White and Dahl, 2007).
Narrative identity
By providing a deeper understanding of personal consumption experiences, narratives are the most appropriate way to study privacy from the perspective of consumers, as they provide an understanding of self-identity and the meanings and goals behind an individual's privacy.
Fuctions of stories
Stories also evoke one's emotions and help people to recognize personal truth from a subjective point of view (Atkinson, 2001). Thus, each narrative represents one's identity, gives meaning to the person's experiences and gives them meaning.
Ontological assumption
Furthermore, according to Paine and colleagues, because the concept of privacy is so complex, it is unlikely that quantitative surveys can accurately reflect respondents' true understanding of privacy. As the literature review did not identify the meanings of privacy in the minds of consumers in the context of social media, the narrative paradigm will allow insights to emerge from the interviewees' own experiences and enable them.
Epistemological assumption
So man writes his own narrative, but the narrative is to some extent also "written for us" (Shankar et al., 2001). As a result, a final understanding of the subject cannot be obtained, but only a provisional understanding can be obtained (Shankar et al., 2001).
Methodological assumption – Philosophical hermeneutics
Pre-understanding
Thus, all of the interpreter's prior knowledge including social, historical and cultural knowledge as well as academic disciplinary knowledge represents one's pre-understanding and influences one's interpretation and temporal understanding (Thompson, 1997; Moisander and Valtonen, 2006). Therefore, preconceptions provide a frame of reference or orienting horizon from which the person sees the world through particular "lenses".
Fusion of horizons and hermeneutic circle
Since each person belongs to a certain historically inherited social world, which provides a special pre-understanding and is the basis for interpretations, it is impossible for the researcher to escape from his own pre-understanding and his own 'roots' (Arnold and Fischer, 1994; Moisander and Valtonen, 2006). . However, the final and complete understanding is not possible to reach, as it is not possible to simultaneously share similar preconceptions, and as there is no single or correct interpretation (Arnold and Fischer, 1994; Moisander and Valtonen, 2006).
Data collection – narrative interview
Sample
Taking into account the intimate nature of the subject of privacy, interviews with my acquaintances created trust between us and made it possible to 'push' the private boundaries and create the respondents' narratives. This in turn allowed respondents to negotiate the most important privacy meanings in their lives within social media.
Conducting the interview
During the first interview, I had basic questions that I used, but I noticed that I did not ask them, since the question naturally arose from the conversation itself. In addition, the interviews were conducted gradually during the entire period of the study in order to obtain the most accurate and achievable data.
Problems
At the beginning of each interview I had a general conversation and gradually I explained the purpose of the interview to the respondents, which made it possible to break the ice between us. During the following interviews, the conversation therefore flowed naturally and questions arose spontaneously and vividly from the conversation itself, but were carefully chosen to guide the conversation in the right direction and keep the story discussed (Atkinson, 2001).
Data analysis
The first stage involves reading a text in its entirety to get a feel for the whole. For the purpose of this research, I will use narrative analysis to understand the interconnected actions and events associated with the.
Analyzing the interview
The interviews covered the topics of social media consumption and meanings of privacy, ranging from social media. The privacy importance of everyday social media use, such as Facebook, was highlighted in the interviews.
General findings
For most of the respondents, at the time of its introduction, social media became a novelty, a popular and trendy place to share. Most respondents mentioned that they would not change anything as it was at the time of the interview.
Two life-stories
Nea’s life story
Of course, she "didn't want to share everything" even with her closest family members, not because it was a secret, but because she "personally would feel uncomfortable with it. Nea thinks it's easier to express her opinions through different online sites. share, because.
Maria‘s life story
Maria also thinks that her privacy is "more vulnerable on social media these days because we cannot protect ourselves, whereas in real life it is much easier. Maybe that's why it's easier to share the minimal and more neutral information than to constantly fight, control etc”.
Emerged privacy meaning themes
Presenting the disclosed self
The interviewees believe that everything they do on social media represents themselves in some way. Some of the interview respondents admitted that they do not take social media seriously as a representation of themselves.
Concealing private self
People don't want others to know, their deepest darkest secrets, opinions about other people” Nea. You don't want to share it or you'll get competitors” Dan [about job offers].
Isolating the self from
I reject everything, I don't want to let random people in and show my stuff" Maija. I don't want to be like the crowd, I want to be me, just be who I am" Emma.
Being conscious about other’s privacy
The interview respondents care about others' privacy because it can affect not only another person's revealed self-identity, but also one's private self-identity, since people also constantly self-evaluate themselves on social media, and in case they do it. do not achieve self-actualization, it affects their self-ego, their private self or internal state, and in turn their level of privacy (Newell, 1998; Westin, 1967; . Burgoon, 1982). Here reciprocity plays an important role to function comfortably in social media environment and achieve desired level of privacy.
Meaning of privacy – dual perspective
In general, most of the interview respondents, except Tommy, believe that they have privacy on social media and that they control their information and access to it. Thus, the findings of this study represent a mixture of existing theoretical knowledge, my interpretation of this knowledge, as well as my interpretation of the life stories of the interview respondents.
Meanings of privacy in consumers’ lives –theme findings
- Presenting disclosed self
- Concealing private self
- Isolating the self
- Being conscious about others’ privacy
In addition to presenting their revealed selves, respondents also hide their private selves on social media. Here reciprocity (Moon, 2000) plays an important role to function comfortably in the social media environment and achieve the desired level of privacy.
Relation of identity and privacy
Maintaining identity
Privacy seems to be a life project that includes both social or public self-identity and personal or private self-identity projects that allow a person to experience both closure and openness simultaneously on social media. Therefore, by presenting their identity, respondents seek intimacy with other users of social networks, but at the same time, by presenting their identity, they also try to limit access to personal self-identity and private information.
Developing self-ego by isolating the self
Protecting own identity by appreciating others’ privacy
Therefore, the possession of the information is a tool to extend the self to the. Privacy as a personal identity project allows people to hide their most personal information, it allows the self to isolate and have time for self-evaluation and planning of future actions.
Private and Disclosed privacy on social media
Therefore, social media users actively construct their own meanings of privacy through their identity as they strive to create coherence in their lives (Mick and Buhl, 1992). In addition, currently disclosed information may affect a person's privacy in the future, as other social media users may store personal disclosed information and use it in the future against the will of the owner.
Is there privacy on social media?
Theoretical Implications
Drawing on Altman and Westin's classic theories of privacy, I identified meanings of privacy for social media consumers by combining theoretical knowledge about privacy and self-identity. The main findings of this research are represented by proposed themes that illustrate the importance of privacy specific to the context of social media.
Suggestions for further research
Furthermore, two life stories presented highlighted the fact that the actualized privacy meanings of social media consumption are a function of the consumer's salient life projects, as aggregated by life themes. Overall, by presenting the close relationship between privacy and identity through four privacy meanings, this study has expanded the field of theoretical discussion on privacy by introducing the concept of public and private privacy in the context of social media.
Managerial implications
In terms of future research, I think it would also be very interesting to study consumers' understandings of privacy within a specific society or culture, and the differences in the understanding of privacy.
Limitations
Journal of Environmental Psychology, Vol. 2001), Antecedents and Consequences of Consumer Privacy Concerns: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 2004), Consumer disclosure and disclosure avoidance: A. Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol.
