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Investigating the Effectiveness of Personalized Content in the Form of Videos When Promoting a TOR Browser

Due to increasing trend of data collection by websites, the use of privacy-enhancing technologies is becoming more and more important in our digital age. However, widespread adoption of tools that provide strongest protection, such as a TOR browser, has been low. Instead of using a “one-size-fits-all” approach when promoting privacy-enhancing technologies as users often vary widely in their perceptions and ways to be persuaded, this study investigated whether using “personalized” content in the form of videos based on decision-making style (GDMS scale) and the level of IT expertise would lead to a higher adoption rate of a TOR browser. Towards that, we designed a study (n = 186) with control and treatment groups. While participants in the control group were randomly given a video raising awareness of the TOR browser, participants in the treatment group were given one of four personalized versions of these videos based on their scores on IT expertise questions and the GDMS scale measuring social influence. Two follow-up surveys, each a week apart, were conducted to determine if the participants installed a TOR browser. We found that only a small percentage of participants started using a TOR browser, and the personalized group did not significantly differ from the control in terms of adoption rate. Though personalized videos did not increase the adoption rate, this study showed that other factors contributed to the low adoption rate and provided insights and recommendations for designing personalized effective videos promoting the TOR browser or similar privacy-enhancing technologies.