FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Target Corp. agreed Thursday to pay $10 million in a class-action settlement stemming from a large data breach that compromised the financial information of millions of customers.

Viswanath Venkatesh and Hartmut Hoehle, information systems researchers at the University of Arkansas, are available to comment on the settlement. Venkatesh and Hoehle studied the effect of two compensation strategies used by Target in reaction to the large-scale data breach in December 2013.

They found that compensation in the form of a 10-percent discount on purchases received favorable reactions. This compensation effectively restored perceptions of justice, which had positive effect on customer sentiment.

But another strategy – free credit monitoring for affected customers – received mixed reactions. Many customers disliked this strategy, regarding extended periods of free credit monitoring as overcompensation and risking the perception that there was more to the breach than the company communicated.

CONTACTS: Viswanath Venkatesh, Distinguished Professor, Information SystemsWalton College of Business479-575-3869, [email protected]

Hartmut Hoehle, assistant professor, Information Systems Walton College of Business479-575-2202, [email protected]

Matt McGowan, science and research communications officerUniversity Relations479-575-4246, [email protected]

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