The Effects of Digital Literacy and Information Privacy Concerns on Critical Understanding of Information: Applying Protection Motivation Theory and Sensation-Seeking

Given that increasing digital use has raised concerns about information privacy leakage and disinformation, this study examines the effects of digital literacy and information privacy concerns on critical understanding of information based on the protection motivation theory. In addition, we enrich this study by investigating the moderating effect of digital users&quot sensation-seeking in digital activities. Through this study, the following facts were confirmed. First, it was found that higher levels of digital literacy are associated with greater critical understanding of information. Second, a positive effect of information privacy concerns on critical understanding of information was found. This suggests that critical understanding of information serves as a means of protecting and managing digital users from information-related risks. Finally, sensation-seeking moderated the relationship between information privacy concerns and critical understanding of information. This study has academic implications in that it identifies factors that influence the critical understanding of information and expands the scope of research in this area.