Fear Appeals and Information Security Behaviors: An Empirical Study

Johnston, Allen C.; Warkentin, Merrill

doi:10.2307/25750691

Cited by 890 publications

(705 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…users deciding to comply with security policies, users intending to take preventive actions against spyware threats) (Johnston and Warkentin, 2010), this study has introduced PMT into the realm of personal information privacy. It could thus be argued that the current study involves risky behavior at a more personal level for the individual engaging in the risk assessment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, PMT has seldom been applied to individuals' risky use of the Internet and information technology, with exceptions including recent studies on computer users' decisions to employ virus protection (Lee et al, 2008) and to regularly back up work-related data (Boss and Galletta, 2008), employees' compliance with company security policies (Pahnila et al, 2007;Johnston and Warkentin, 2010), and the stress coping mechanisms for IT professionals (Tsai et al, 2007). Other recent studies have utilized some of the same health-related constructs modeled in PMT to help explain security consciousness in users (Ng et al, 2009).…”

Section: What Factors Influence An Individual To Post Personal Informmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social Networking Websites and Posting Personal Information: An Evaluation of Protection Motivation Theory

Marett¹,

McNab²,

Harris³

2011

THCI

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Ping Zhang was the accepting Senior Editor. This article was submitted on 3/26/2010 and accepted on 7/5/2011. It was with the authors 254 days for 2 revisions. The popularity of social networking websites among Internet users continues to grow, even though social networking remains a risk for users who do not participate with caution. Using protection motivation theory (PMT) as a theoretical lens to provide a research model, and by issuing a fear appeal to social network users about the potential threat to their privacy, this study identified perceptions and beliefs held by users that influence their behavioral responses to the imposed threats. A snowball sample survey measuring the variables conceptualized by PMT was completed by 522 social network users. A time-ordered hierarchical regression analysis of the responses showed that PMT provides explanations for both adaptive and maladaptive responses, particularly for the response of hopelessness. Implications and directions for future research in this area are offered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Factors Influence An Individual To Post Personal Informmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Networking Websites and Posting Personal Information: An Evaluation of Protection Motivation Theory

Marett¹,

McNab²,

Harris³

2011

THCI

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“…The message included a coping strategy, since this is a necessary adjunct to a risk appeal [4], [27]. b) Norms: Norms have been shown to be effective in promoting desirable behaviour [52], as they give information about what is typically approved or disapproved of in a society [14].…”

Section: ) Excluded Categoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two other questions were used to gauge respondents' evaluation of the clarity of the voter communication [42], and their ability to verify a vote [27].…”

Section: ) Why We Used a Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Voter, What Message Will Motivate You To Verify Your Vote?

Olembo¹,

Renaud²,

Bartsch³

et al. 2014

Proceedings 2014 Workshop on Usable Security

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Abstract-There is increasing interest in verifiable Internet voting systems that enable voters to verify the integrity of their vote on the voting platform prior to casting it, and any interested party to verify the integrity of the election results. The ease with which a vote can be verified plays a key role. Empowering individual voters to act as interested yet objective verifiers increases the probability of fraud detection. Verifying constitutes additional effort, something humans resist unless the benefits are compelling enough. Thus, what is the best way to provide such motivation? We report on a survey, distributed to 123 respondents, in which we explore the effects of three types of motivating messages on voters' intention to verify a vote, using a smartphone app. The motivating messages were intended to increase the intention to verify a vote. Our findings have persuaded us that further research on the use of motivating messages in the context of verifiable voting is warranted.

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“…Many marketers have stayed away from using fear appeals because it is difficult to use them effectively (Peng, 2006;LaTour & Tanner, 2003). Moreover, the effectiveness of fear appeals is not uniform, since other constructs that are connected with fear appeals -especially perceptions of self-efficacy ("I can do this"), response efficacy ("This can be done"), threat ("Something bad will happen unless you act this way"), severity ("You could even die"), and social influence ("Other people act this way") -influence an individual's behaviour (Johnston & Warkentin, 2010). Other forces as well influence a person's behaviour, such as one's own experience and one's culture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

HIV/Aids fear appeal advertisements directed at different market segments: Some considerations for corporate sponsors and NPO’s

Terblanche-Smit

Terblanché

2013

SAJBM

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The purpose of social advertising is to influence human behaviour for societal benefit. Given concern about the Aids pandemic in South Africa, this study used structural equation modelling and partial least squares to investigate whether the use of fear in social advertising increases the likelihood of adopting appropriate behaviour pertaining to HIV/Aids prevention. Fear, attitude towards the advertisements, severity, susceptibility, response efficacy and self-efficacy were examined for their effect on behavioural intent of young adults within specific market segments. Relationships were found among susceptibility, fear, attitude, and behavioural intent, and different relationship paths were identified for segments based on gender and culture/racial groupings. These differences show the value in tailoring fear appeals to different segments when addressing social cause advertisements.

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Fear Appeals and Information Security Behaviors: An Empirical Study

Cited by 890 publications

References 58 publications

Social Networking Websites and Posting Personal Information: An Evaluation of Protection Motivation Theory

Social Networking Websites and Posting Personal Information: An Evaluation of Protection Motivation Theory

Voter, What Message Will Motivate You To Verify Your Vote?

HIV/Aids fear appeal advertisements directed at different market segments: Some considerations for corporate sponsors and NPO’s

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