Parents' perceptions of the sensitivity of their children's personal information and willingness to share with social media marketers: Implications for sharenting

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Mariea Grubbs Hoy,Alexa K. Fox,George D. Deitz
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12502

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Parents' perceptions of the sensitivity of their

children's personal information and willingness

to share with social media marketers:

Implications for sharenting

Mariea Grubbs Hoy

1

| Alexa K. Fox

2

| George D. Deitz

3

1

Tombras School of Advertising and

Public Relations, University of Tennessee,

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

2

Department of Marketing, The

University of Akron, Akron, Ohio, USA

3

Department of Marketing and Supply

Chain Management, The University of

Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Correspondence

Mariea Grubbs Hoy, Tombras School of

Advertising and Public Relations,

476 Communication and Information,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville,

TN 37996, USA.

Email: mhoy@utk.edu

Abstract

Many stakeholders such as parents, companies, and

policymakers play a role in children's online privacy.

This study explores how parents who have at least

one child age 10 and younger perceive the sensitivity

of their children's personal information and willing-

ness to share it with social media marketers. Survey

results of 418 parents indicate that a variety of types

of children's information is perceived as sensitive,

with certain information (e.g., videos, photos) that

parents readily share via social media as highly sensi-

tive. Findings also suggest that fathers and single par-

ents are more likely to perceive their children's

information as sensitive and yet are more willing to

share it. This research contributes to the consumer

welfare literature on children's privacy by providing a

baseline of parents' attitudes regarding their chil-

dren's data, extending prior research that has exam-

ined adults' perceptions of the sensitivity of their own

information and willingness to share with social

media marketers.

KEYWORDS

children's online privacy, information sensitivity, sharenting,

social media

Received: 25 May 2021 Revised: 7 September 2022 Accepted: 25 October 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12502

© 2022 American Council on Consumer Interests.

346 J Consum Aff. 2023;57:346–356.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca