Valuation of consumers' personal information : a South Korean example

Following the advent of the information age, it has become common for consumers to release personal information during the process of consumption, a practice which results in an increase in breaches or abuse of such information. The purpose of this study was to identify the appropriate monetary value of personal information from a consumer's perspective. Respondents were Korean nationals above the age of 16 who live in Seoul and the greater metropolitan region. Using the contingent valuation method (CVM), the authors elicited the amount of money respondents were willing to accept as being equivalent to the value of their personal information, with the resulting mean and median being US$1,500 and US$500, respectively. Via a nested probit model analysis, the existence of a relative minority which placed a significantly lower value on their personal information was found. For further research on this topic, specific tools allowing the execution of a more accurate analysis and various methods to measure personal information need to be adopted and utilized.

personal information

consumers' valuation

contingent valuation method (CVM)