Cultural Influences on Privacy Calculus in Loyalty Programs: An Analysis of Individual and National-Level Cultural Values.

This study investigates how cultural factors influence consumer privacy concerns within loyalty programs (LPs) by analyzing survey data from 1,259 consumers across the United Kingdom, China, Mexico, and Spain. It focuses on two cultural dimensions—uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism—at both individual and national levels, revealing that individual uncertainty avoidance significantly heightens privacy concerns, while collectivistic cultures exhibit greater privacy concerns than individualistic ones. The research confirms that privacy concerns negatively affect trust in retailers, which in turn mediates loyalty, and that perceived benefits of LPs enhance loyalty, with cultural context moderating these relationships. The findings emphasize the importance for retailers to adopt culturally informed strategies that balance privacy risks and benefits, highlight regulatory compliance, and address intracultural diversity to effectively build consumer trust and loyalty in global markets.