“…Response cost is the estimated physical and psychological cost (e.g., in time, money, and effort) of performing a protective behavior (Ezati Rad et al, 2021;Jayawardena et al, 2023;Taheri-Kharameh et al, 2020), overcoming a complex problem, or controlling a powerful habit (Haag et al, 2021). Both self-efficacy and response cost have a great impact on behavioral intention (Farooq et al, 2019;Hsu & Lee, 2023;Lee & Seomun, 2021;Maddux & Rogers, 1983;Marikyan & Papagiannidis, 2023;Marshall et al, 2022). Hence, the following hypotheses were proposed: H 3 : Self-efficacy has a positive effect on information-security protection motivation.…”