Is knowledge power? Testing how knowledge affects chilling effects an...

This study explores how two different types of privacy knowledge – declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge – affect individuals’ behaviors to safeguard their privacy based on protection motivation theory and research on privacy fatigue. Specifically, we test whether individuals resort to measures that reduce data collection by technological means (privacy-protective behaviors), or if they exercise self-restraint in their use of online services (chilling-effect related behaviors) using an experimental study design combined with browser history data.