Cyber Vigilantism and Privacy Protection : Expand the Behavioral Component of the Third-Person Effect

This study investigates both the perceptual and behavioral components of third-person effect in relation to the newly emerged practice of cyber vigilantism. Consistent with previous findings that were reported in the traditional media contexts, respondents in our study reported that Internet-mediated messages of cyber vigilantism had a greater media influence on others than on the self. While previous studies of the third-person effect have primarily linked the self-other disparity of perceived media influence to either rectifying or accommodation behavior, our study extends the range of consequence behavior to individuals’ privacy protection behavior. Our data indicate that respondents’ privacy protection behavior was partially derived from the self-other disparities of perceived media influence regarding media coverage of cyber vigilantism.