Revisiting online privacy concern in predicting user coping behavior: systematic review, conceptual framework, and research agenda

Purpose Despite scholarly discussions of online privacy concern (OPC) in the digital information landscape, a notable trend is that users exhibit various non-statical privacy concerns and increasingly sophisticated coping behaviors during human–computer interactions. Therefore, this paper aims to explicitly examine this phenomenon and the relationships between OPC and coping strategies that users engage with. A cohesive review is developed to elucidate how OPC predicts users’ coping behavior. Design/methodology/approach This review leveraged a systematic literature review to synthesize 145 OPC research papers in information systems and proposed a nomological and analytical framework for OPC. Findings The study delineated a nomological network with antecedents, mechanisms and interventions in the relationship between OPC and user coping behavior. Prior studies had underexplored the non-statical nature of OPC and the user privacy status quo, overlooking that the coping responses could switch over time. Originality/value The paper integrates a literature review and framework approach to help comprehend OPC and users’ transitory coping behavior. A continuum of privacy status based on a control-and-threat equilibrium framework was proposed, consisting of four phases: adoption, continuance, modification and avoidance. By doing so, this study outlines four OPC research directions for future studies.