Exploring the dimensions of consumer privacy: an analysis of coverage in british and american media

Abstract

This study examines how consumer privacy issues have been perceived over time and across cultures through the analysis of media coverage of the issue in England and the United States over the past 33 years. A major cross-cultural difference was that Americans have expressed more concern about interactional privacy issues (such as intrusions into individuals’ lives through the receipt of direct mail and telephone solicitations). While the British have been primarily concerned with informational privacy issues (such as the collection and exchange of information about individuals). Other differences in coverage over time and across cultures are also presented, and implications for direct marketers are discussed.