Personalized advertising is possible by tracking consumers' online activities and customizing ads for individual consumers. These ads are often more relevant, interesting, and appreciated by the consumer. However, there is a sense of worry about how personal information is gathered, stored, and used. While companies share the information with each other, consumers worry that the collection and usage of their personal information may damage their personal privacy. The personalization-privacy paradox describes this relationship between appreciated personalized advertising and breaches of privacy. The purpose of this study is to explore what elements of personalized marketing consumers find to be a breach of their personal privacy. By analyzing earlier research and literature, a theoretical framework was developed. The study uses a qualitative method utilizing semi-structured interviews to collect empirical data, which is then analyzed using the theoretical framework. The findings show that there are four primary elements in personalized advertising that consumers find to be a breach of privacy. These are recurring ads, feelings of being watched, personal information being shared and covert data collection. / Individanpassad marknadsföring är möjligt genom att spåra konsumenters onlineaktivitet och anpassa reklam för individuella konsumenter. Denna reklam är ofta mer relevant, intressant och uppskattad av konsumenten. Det finns dock en känsla av oro om hur personlig information samlas in, lagras och används. Medan företag delar informationen med varandra oroar sig konsumenter för att insamlingen och användandet av deras personliga information kan kränka deras personliga integritet. Personalization-privacy paradox beskriver detta samband mellan uppskattad individanpassad marknadsföring och kränkningar av den personliga integriteten. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka element av individanpassad marknadsföring konsumenter upplever som integritetskränkande. Genom att analysera tidigare forskning och litteratur skapades ett teoretiskt ramverk. Studien använde sig av semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla in empiriska data, som sedan analyserades med hjälp av det teoretiska ramverket. Resultaten visar att det finns fyra huvudsakliga element i individanpassad marknadsföring som konsumenter anser vara integritetskränkande. Dessa är återkommande reklam, känslan av att vara övervakad, delande av personlig information och hemlig datainsamling.

The privacy paradox is a phenomenon whereby individuals continue to disclose their personal information, contrary to their claim of concerns for the privacy of their personal information. This study investigated the privacy paradox to better understand individuals' decisions to disclose or withhold their personal information. The study argued that individuals’ decisions are based on a cognitive disposition, which involves both rational and emotional mental processes. While the extended privacy calculus model was used as the theoretical basis for the study, the findings of cognitive neuroscience was applied to it to address its limitation in assuming individuals are purely rational decision-makers. Three within-subjects experiments were conducted whereby each subject participated in all three experiments as if it were one. Experiment 1 captured the neural correlates of mental processes involved in privacy-related decisions, while experiment 2 and 3 were factorial-design experiments used for testing the relationship of neural correlates in predicting privacy concerns and personal information disclosure. The findings of this study indicated that at least one neural correlate of every mental process involved in privacy-related decisions significantly influenced personal information disclosure, except for uncertainty. However, there were no significant relationships between mental processes and privacy concerns, except Brodmann’s Area 13, a neural correlate of distrust. This relationship, however, had a positive relationship with privacy concerns, opposite to what was hypothesized. Furthermore, interaction effects indicated that individuals put more emphasis on negative perceptions in privacy-related situations. This study contributed to the information privacy field by supporting the argument that individuals’ privacy-related decisions are both rational and emotional. Specifically, the privacy paradox cannot be explained through solely rational cost-benefit analysis or through an examination of individuals’ emotions alone.

Individanpassad marknadsföring blir ett allt mer kraftfullt verktyg för företag. Den fortsatta framväxten av digitala medier leder till en ökad insamling av konsumenters persondata som används för att skräddarsy individuella erbjudanden. Företagens användande av individanpassad marknadsföring ger dock upphov till problematik gällande konsumentens integritet. Marknadsförare måste beakta flertalet faktorer för att undvika en integritetskränkande respons hos konsumenterna och istället frambringa marknadsföring som upplevs gynnande. Genom fokusgruppsintervjuer ämnar denna studie att undersöka diverse faktorer som påverkar hur konsumenter upplever individanpassad marknadsföring. Med teoretisk grund rotad i privacy paradox och privacy calculus, undersöker denna studie faktorerna som påverkar konsumenters inställning ur ett integritetsperspektiv. Resultaten belyser hur en majoritet av intervjudeltagarna anser att individanpassad marknadsföring medför vissa gynnande aspekter, dock i ganska låg utsträckning, samt hur allt för personlig och direkt marknadsföring upplevs integritetskränkande i större grad.

During the 21st century, the use of digital services has exploded. Companies are getting better at collecting and using data for their own gain. The increased collection of data has contributed to increased privacy concerns among many. This paper examines how a person’s attitude and knowledge about data collection can affect their online behavior. To examine this, a questionnaire survey was conducted. The study's results indicate that there is a paradoxical behavior among the respondents, since most people have a negative view of data collection, but do not take measures to reflect this attitude. Furthermore, the result suggests that knowledge about data collection acts as the primary motivator for taking measures to protect their data.   Keywords: Data collection, online behaviour, privacy paradox, GDPR, attitude, knowledge, privacy concerns / Under 2000-talet har användningen av digitala tjänster exploderat. Företag blir bättre på att samla in och använda data för deras egen vinning. Den ökade datainsamlingen har bidragit till en ökad oro kring personlig data hos många. Denna uppsats undersöker hur internetanvändares attityd och kunskap kring datainsamling kan påverka deras online-beteende. För att undersöka detta utfördes en enkätundersökning. Studiens resultat indikerar att det finns ett paradoxalt beteende hos respondenterna då de flesta har en negativ syn till datainsamling men vidtar inte åtgärder för att spegla denna attityd. Vidare tyder resultatet på att kunskap kring datainsamling agerar som den primära motivatorn för att vidta åtgärder för att skydda deras data.   Nyckelord: Datainsamling, online-beteende, Privacy Paradox, GDPR, attityd, kunskap. integritets-oro

Data räknas idag som en av världens värdefullaste resurser. I takt med att internet har blivit mer etablerat och utökat sina användningsområden, har insamlingen av information om dess användare ökat. Genom att använda sig av cookies kan företag analysera sina kunders vanor på internet och på så sätt tillgodose personligt riktad reklam och specialanpassade flöden. Tidigare studier visar att internetanvändare är oroliga över deras personliga integritet på nätet men att de inte tar åtgärder för att skydda den. Fenomenet kallas för privacy paradox och det finns rapporter som tyder på att detta fenomen inte är närvarande hos svenska internetanvändare. Studiens syfte är att undersöka om privacy paradox finns hos svenska internetanvändare och om fenomenet kan förklaras via en avsaknad av kunskap inom området, även kallat bounded rationality. Studiens datamängd samlades in via en internetbaserad enkät och analyserades utifrån studiens teoretiska modell som utgår ifrån det teoretiska ramverket Knowledge-Attitude-Behaviour(KAB). Univariat-, bivariat- och multivariat statistik användes för att beskriva datamängden och besvara forskningsfrågan. SmartPLS användes för att konstruera och analysera PLS-SEM modellerna som användes i den multivariata analysen. Det statistiska programmeringsspråket R användes vid den univariata och bivariata analysen. Resultatet visade att privacy paradox inte kunde fastställas i studiens datamängd. Det kunde även fastställas att datamängden påvisade en hög kunskap gällande cookies, vilket talar emot en förekomst av bounded rationality. / Data is now considered one of the world's most valuable resources. As the internet has become more established and expanded its uses, the collection of user information has increased. By using cookies, companies can analyze their customers' habits on the internet and thus provide personalized advertising and customized feeds. Previous studies show that internet users are concerned about their online privacy but do not take steps to protect it. The phenomenon is called the privacy paradox and there are reports that suggest that this phenomenon is not present among Swedish internet users. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether the privacy paradox is present among Swedish internet users and whether the phenomenon can be explained by a lack of knowledge in the area, also known as bounded rationality. The study's data set was collected via an Internet-based questionnaire and analyzed in the study's theoretical model, a model based on the theoretical framework Knowledge-Attitude-Behavior (KAB). Univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics were used to describe the data set and answer the research question. SmartPLS was used to construct and analyze the PLS-SEM models used in the multivariate analysis. The statistical programming language R was used for the univariate and bivariate analysis. The results showed that privacy paradox could not be established in the study's data set. It was also determined that the data set showed a high level of knowledge about cookies which is contradicting bounded rationality.

Individanpassad marknadsföring drivs till stor del av de fördelar som den tillför till ett företags kundrelationer och marknadsföringsresultat. Idag försöker annonsörer möta kundernas förväntningar på en individuell nivå. Tillsammans med detta har den avancerade utveckling av informationsteknologi öppnat nya möjligheter för att kunna samla in och analysera kunddata till att skapa individanpassad marknadsföring. Faktum är att företag behöver samla in mycket information från kunderna för att tillhandahålla kundanpassade tjänster. Syftet med studien är att undersöka och redogöra om individanpassad marknadsföring är något som värdesätts av konsumenter eller uppfattas som ett hot mot konsumentens integritet. Med stöd av denna studie utreder vi de underliggande faktorerna hos konsumenternas positiva eller negativa förhållningssätt gentemot fenomenet. En kvalitativ studie av tolv individuella intervjuer har genomförts. Resultatet visade sig att individanpassad marknadsföring upplevs vara ett hot mot konsumentens integritet. De underliggande faktorer som skapar en känsla av hot är konsumenternas brist på kunskap, brist på lättläst datainsamlingsmetod, begränsning av kontroll över hur ens genererade data kan användas, tvång till att acceptera olika användarvillkor i utbyte av de tjänster som används. Ytterligare faktorer som skapar en känsla av hot för konsumenterna visade sig vara irritation över annonser, tillit för aktören och placeringen av annonsen. Resultatet tyder även på att individanpassad marknadsföring kan uppskattas av konsumenterna i en situation där det uppstår ett ömsesidigt värdeutbyte. / Personalized advertising is largely driven by the benefits that it brings to a company's customer relationship and marketing results. Today, advertisers try to meet customer expectations individually. In the same way, the development of information technology has opened new opportunities for collecting and analyzing customer data to create personalized advertising. In fact, companies need to gather a big amount of information from customers to provide customized services. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether personalized advertising is being valued by customers or does it perceive as a threat to their privacy. This study also investigates the underlying factors of customers' positive or negative attitudes towards personalized advertising. A qualitative study of 12 individual interviews has been conducted. The results showed that personalized advertising is perceived as a threat to customer privacy. The underlying factors that cause a sense of threat are: customer' lack of knowledge, lack of easy-to-read information about data collection methods by actors, restriction of customers' control about how their data should be used, compulsion to accept the various user terms of use in exchange of service. The result of this study also showed that ad irritation, customers' trust in the company and ad placement also affects how customers experience personalized advertising. The results also show that this type of marketing strategy can be appreciated by customers in a situation where a value exchange occurs.

I en tid där digitaliseringen är mer utbredd än någonsin ökar också mängden data som samlas och delas online. I takt med att nya tekniker utvecklas öppnas det upp för nya utmaningar för integritetsfrågor. En aktiv användare online ägnar sig med störst sannolikhet också åt ett eller flera sociala medier, där ändamålen ofta innebär att dela med sig av information till andra. Eftersom tekniker Augmented Reality används mer frekvent i några av de största sociala medierapplikationerna blev studiens syfte att undersöka potentiella integritetsproblem med Augmented Reality.l Studiens tillvägagångsätt har bestått av en empirisk datainsamling för att skapa ett teoretiskt ramverk för studien. Utifrån detta har det genomförts en digital enkät samt intervjuer för att närmare undersöka användarens beteende online och The Privacy Paradox. Utifrån undersökningens resultat kunde The Privacy Paradox bekräftas och ge en bättre förståelse för hur användaren agerar genom digitala kanaler. I studien behandlas olika aspekter kring integritetsfrågor såsom användarvillkor, sekretessavtal, datamäklare, framtida konsekvenser och vad tekniken möjliggör. Studien kom fram till att användare, företaget och dagens teknik tillåter att en känsligare information kan utvinnas genom ett dataintrång. Även om det ännu inte har inträffat ett dataintrång som grundat sig i Augmented Reality före denna studie, finns det en risk att det endast handlar om en tidsfråga innan det sker. / In a time when digitalization is more widespread than ever, the amount of data collected and shared is increasing. As new technologies develop, challenges for privacy concerns arises. An active online user is likely to engage in one or many social media platforms, where the purpose often involves sharing information with others. Since Augmented Reality is more frequently supported in some the biggest social media applications, the purpose of this study was to investigate potential privacy concerns with Augmented Reality. The study's approach consisted of an empirical data collection to create a theoretical framework for the study. Based on this, a digital survey and interviews were conducted to further investigate the user's behavior online and The Privacy Paradox. Based on the results of the survey, The Privacy Paradox could be confirmed and a better understanding of how the user interacts through digital channels was achieved. The study treats different aspects of privacy concerns such as user terms, privacy policies, data brokers, future consequences and what technology enables. The study reached the conclusion that users, buisnesses and today's technology allow a more sensitive type of information to be collected through a data breach. Even if there has not yet occurred a data breach enabled by Augmented Reality prior to this study, there is a risk that it is only a matter of time until it happens.

Data collection and online personalization has become essential part of modern marketing, and thus, embedded into consumer’s everyday life. This has emerged a lot of negative attention in the media and privacy concerns among consumers – however, their attitudes towards privacy seems to be controversial with lack of privacy enhancing behavior. The purpose of this study was to find out what is consumers take on online personalization, data collection and GDPR. In order to the tackle the causing reasons of such perceptions, focus group discussions were performed. The emerging thoughts were analyzed with the concepts of privacy paradox and information asymmetry – how structural imbalance between the advertisement network, companies and consumers impacted to their thinking about personalization and which factors caused the unwillingness to enhance one’s privacy, despite the attitudes that would predict different behavior. The results showed, that many respondents do not mind personalization if they perceive it relevant. However, the intrusive nature of its practices made the participants, directly or indirectly, reluctant towards it, as it was highlighted that it is not personalization per se that made the respondents uncomfortable, but how it was done. Due to the advertisement networks’ opaque nature, the participants founded challenging to comprehend how personalization was performed. Thus, conspiracy theories about surveillance, such as tapping via smartphone, were broad up to explain companies’ ability to know and target them so well. The main channel for companies to inform consumers about their privacy policy is terms and conditions. However, due to several reasons, the decision making for one’s privacy face many hinders, that may influence in how consumers perceive their privacy and how their personal data is collected and used. A controversiality between GDPR’s, companies’ and consumers’ view on privacy self-management is evident, as the regulation and companies rely too much on consumer’s own responsibility.

Through its growing popularity, social media platforms have become influential in our society. Data tracking allows social media platforms to continue providing free and personalized services. Scholars and professionals have argued that data tracking can be harmful to individual privacy and can be used to change peoples’ behaviour without them being aware of this. This thesis focusses on how millennials deal with data tracking dilemmas in their social media use. As digital natives, millennials have grown up in a digital society, and therefor are often suggested to have a unique perspective on issues such as data tracking. This study is focused on why millennials use social media platforms, what dilemmas they identify regarding data tracking, how millennials act upon these dilemmas and how millennials reflect on their own behaviour compared to that of other generations. Based on 16 semi-structured interviews and 4 focus groups, this thesis relates the behaviour of Dutch millennials regarding data tracking and social media use to theories such as mediatization, platformization, the privacy paradox and media generations. This thesis finds that besides communication, entertainment and social engagement are also deeply shaped by mediatization and platformization. The participants identified three interrelated aspects of the privacy dilemma: the filter bubble, monetization and power. In acting upon these dilemmas, the behaviour of some participants confirms the notion of the privacy paradox. However, another group of participants indicated that they do not experience the dilemmas as such, and therefore do not act upon them. A last group of participants shared that they have found multiple ways in which to act upon the dilemmas they identify. This study thus concludes that the privacy paradox seems more nuanced than its conceptualization, because the participants find ways to deal with the dilemmas they identify.

A gap, known as the privacy paradox, often exists between peoples' privacy concerns and the actions they take to protect their privacy. This thesis investigates how a small sample of undergraduate students perceive their online privacy, the measures they take to protect their online privacy, and the reasons for their action/inaction. In so doing, it seeks to ascertain whether the findings of Hinds et al.'s (2020) regarding Facebook users' perceptions of online privacy issues are replicable among a sample of undergraduate students who are regular users of Instagram. Interviews with 20 undergraduate students were conducted to gather information about their online privacy concerns, their attitudes toward social media platforms collecting their information, and the privacy protection strategies they employ. The findings suggest that in enacting protection strategies, the participants delineate between both social and institutional conceptions of privacy, and the notion of privacy as a right requiring protecting versus viewing privacy as a negotiable commodity. This, in turn, suggests a possible need to re-consider how privacy-related education is approached as well as privacy policy.