Why People Give More Info to Shady Websites

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If you're looking to glean sensitive information from consumers, design a crappy-looking website, says a new study that will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. The study found that survey respondents were more likely to admit to engaging in questionable behaviors — trying cocaine, watching someone undress without their knowledge, driving drunk — if they were asked about their habits on a crude, unprofessional-looking website. Even though subjects admitted they felt the primitive web page was less secure, they were more willing to spill secrets to a site that is less likely to keep them secret.

So why are web users dumb enough to hand over info to prying marketers, phishers, and scammers? "When sites come across as strange and frivolous, people let their guard down," says Leslie John, a doctoral student in behavioral decision theory at Carnegie Mellon University, and lead author of the study. "They don't think about privacy."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2022229,00.html#ixzz117EeIRvu