‘DON’T FOOL ME, AS IT IS YOUR LOSS’ - IMPACT OF DECEPTION ON INFORMATION PRIVACY

ABSTRACT With the explosion of e-commerce, the potential for new internet portals to mislead or fool consumers has grown significantly. This study investigates the influence of these deceptive actions on customer privacy and their information-sharing behavior. We have used online experimental research to demonstrate the influence of deception on information privacy and information-sharing behavior. We demonstrate that misleading activities such as falsification, concealment and equivocation reduce customers’ trust in the platform and increase their privacy concerns, resulting in a lower willingness to disclose any information on the platforms. We further explain the impact of several types of deceptive tactics in the online purchasing environment and present a mediation model to understand the impact of deception. The study has implications for category managers and consumers of e-commerce platforms.