Online privacy and culture; Pakistan perspective

Abstract

Globalization has inherently changed the way we communicate. Online privacy becomes a major concern in internet mediated communication. Independent researches by Weber (1998) and Calhoun (2002) mention that national and regional cultures have a considerable impact on online privacy preferences. Hence, to study this online privacy preferential behavior, Hofstede’s Model ‘Six Dimensions of National Culture’ was used in the thesis. Four dimensions namely power distance; uncertainty avoidance, individualism, and masculinity were considered in this study. The research aimed to find the impact of each dimension on online privacy, as well as how the online privacy preference patterns vary among provinces/regions of Pakistan. The study also intended to investigate which social media platform has the highest online privacy preference pattern and how gender roles influence online privacy preference. Online questionnaire consisted of reliable and valid instruments. Data were collected from two major public universities of each province through non probability sampling method. The descriptive of the demographics and main study variables were discussed. The data was analyzed using Pearson Correlation and Linear Regression to examine the association whereas, T-test and ANOVA were used to compare sample for gender and provincial level online privacy respectively. The results revealed significantly positive association of uncertainty avoidance / masculinity with online privacy whereas association between Individualism and online privacy remained significantly negative. Furthermore, the results showed significantly high for online privacy preference in females than males. The online privacy preference was also significantly high in Punjab as compared to Baluchistan. The theoretical/ practical contribution along with limitation and future guidelines of the study discussed.