Navigating consumer permission in proximity marketing through social presence communication

This study examines how consumers decide to grant permission to proximity advertising technologies, emphasizing the often-overlooked influence of dispositional privacy concerns. Grounded in the Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), this study investigates the U-shaped effects of social presence on privacy disposition and information sensitivity, positioning information sensitivity as a mediating mechanism. Additionally, perceived privacy protection is incorporated as a moderator that alters the strength of the information sensitivity and privacy disposition relationship. A field survey using hierarchical regression analyses was conducted to examine the proposed framework, while a laboratory experiment was conducted to provide deeper empirical insights into social presence strategies. The findings indicate that perceived social presence in location-based services can diminish consumers’ information sensitivity and mitigate their privacy disposition. However, excessively high levels of social presence may lead to unintended adverse effects. Additionally, perceived privacy protection can attenuate the impact of information sensitivity on privacy disposition. This study advances research on dispositional privacy concerns in proximity marketing, particularly by extending the application of PKM to examine social presence’s non-linear effects. Practically, the findings provide strategic insights for businesses to manage privacy concerns, enhance consumer engagement, and optimize marketing effectiveness.