Customers who feel afraid in the wake of a data breach care more about the size and scope of the breach than do angry customers, according to new research.

The findings also extend to the stock market, where a company’s stock price can be influenced by the size of the breach when the news coverage emphasizes fear, rather than anger.

«The emotions of fear and anger will elicit different reactions,» said Subimal Chatterjee, distinguished professor in marketing at Binghamton University’s School of Management. «In the wake of a data breach, we wanted to explore those different reactions and see if people acted to protect themselves or directed feelings toward those responsible.»

Chatterjee partnered with faculty across multiple disciplines within the School of Management. Working with Sumantra Sarkar, assistant professor of management information systems, Cihan Uzmanoglu, assistant professor of finance, and Xiang Gao, a Binghamton University PhD alumnus now at the Paseka School of Business at Minnesota State University, the group conducted three studies to get to their findings.

«So much business is now conducted online, and while that provides many conveniences, it opens up new threats. Data breaches are constantly in the news, and the scope of some of these breaches are huge,» Sarkar said. «When you hear that millions of people may be impacted, how do you react?»

Two of the studies surveyed how consumers reacted to the scope of a data breach. They found that only the customers who felt fear after a breach were sensitive to the size and scope of the breach, while scope didn’t matter to angry consumers.

Story Source: Materials provided by Binghamton University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.