Fear of Online Consumer Identity Theft: Cross-Country Application and Short Scale Development

Gianfranco Walsh, Edward Shiu, Louise Hassan, Patrick Hille, Ikuo Takahashi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The growing internationalization of electronic commerce demands the establishment of the cross-national validity of theoretical concepts. An important concept in e-commerce is consumers’ fear of online identity theft (FOIT), which impedes consumers’ willingness to engage in online transactions and can negatively affect e-commerce revenues. The present study validates the consumer FOIT scale developed in Germany by Hille et al. (2015) in a cross-cultural setting and proposes an abbreviated version of the scale, which is approximately 35% shorter than the original. Established validation procedures with samples of online consumers from Germany, the United States, and Japan demonstrate the reliability, validity, and cross-national applicability of the short FOIT scale. In particular, this study extends Hille et al. (2015) research by examining and revealing the impact of FOIT on consumers’ prevention-focused responses. This research offers implications for both research and e-commerce managers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1251-1264
Number of pages14
JournalInformation Systems Frontiers
Volume21
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Dec 1

Keywords

  • Cross-cultural scale validation
  • E-commerce
  • Fear of online identity theft
  • Prevention-focused responses

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Information Systems
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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