Nature vs. Nurture: The Genetic Basis of Behavioral Security

This research-in-progress project seeks to explain persistent user resistance to security behavior from a biological perspective using the behavioral genetics paradigm. A synthesis of current literature on deception detection, cognitive neuroscience, decision making, and fraud victimization suggests that there may potentially be genetic basis for user susceptibility to security risks such as phishing scams. An ongoing study is being conducted to estimate the heritability of behavioral security by comparing correlation between 143 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins and that between 51 pairs of same-sex dyzygotic (DZ) twins. Zygosity of the twin pairs serves as the primary independent variable in the behavioral genetics analysis. Online security settings on the social media site Facebook and behavioral responses to simulated phishing scams are being collected as dependent measures of security behavior. Data have also been collected on potential mediating factors, such as personality traits, risk propensity, information technology usage, and protection motivation. By employing twin design, the classic methodology of behavioral genetics research, this study will be among the first to unpack the genetic versus environmental determinants of individual differences in behavioral security. Implications will be discussed with respect to security research as well as managerial practices

I\u27m Losing Patience with your Site: The Impact of Information Scent and Time Constraints on Effort, Performance, and Attitudes

As competition increases in the online world, website owners will investigate ways in which they can attract more users. Additionally, many consumers suffer ever-increasing time limitations when browsing for a particular item on a website. Users can become frustrated and stressed when they are unable to find those items due to poor information scent, or semantic cues that are meant to lead to their goal. This paper presents and tests a theoretical model to predict how information scent can reduce the amount of stress that consumers experience when seeking information under time constraints. The study also demonstrates the relationships between information scent, time constraints, stress, performance and attitudes toward the website. Results indicate that while high information scent is an important design goal, scent can only be assessed by taking the user’s task into account

Developing a Predictive Model of Software Piracy Behavior: An Empirical Study

There is, perhaps, no more visible financial dilemma in the software industry today than that of software piracy. In this paper, we detail the development and empirical validation of a predictive model of software piracy behavior by computer-using professionals. The model was developed from the results of prior research in software piracy and the reference disciplines of the theory of planned behavior, expected utility theory and deterrence theory. The study utilized two methods to analyze the piracy decision. A survey was used to test the entire model and an experiment was undertaken to test several relationships between the included variables. The results indicate that the identified factors have a significant impact on the decision to pirate software and that the model is a useful tool in further understanding this behavior. The results add to a growing stream of MIS research into piracy behavior and have significant implications for organizations and industry groups aiming to reduce piracy behavior

Effect of Presentation Flaws on Users’ Perception of Quality of On-Line Stores’ Web Sites: Is it Perception that Really Counts?

Presentation flaws are abundant in web sites, but there has been no study to determine how presentation flaws affect consumers’ perceptions of quality of an on-line store, trust in the store, and ultimately the intention to purchase. The theoretical foundation stems from various relevant streams of literature: trust and credibility, impression formation, and impression management. A laboratory experiment examined three main factors, incompleteness, error, and poor style, and used 160 student subjects in a completely balanced, fully factorial design (2x2x2). It was found that error, incompleteness, and poor style affected consumers’ perceived quality of the web site. Furthermore, it was found that the relationship between the factors and perceived quality was mediated by the perception of the flaws. The perception of flaws rather than the actual flaws influenced users’ perception of quality

Genetic Basis of Behavioral Security

Behavioral genetics offers numerous opportunities to bridge gaps in biological research of IS and to shed light on the nature versus nurture debate. This study seeks to explain persistent weaknesses in behavioral security from a genetic perspective. A synthesis of current literatures on cognitive neuroscience, decision making, and fraud victimization suggests a genetic basis for user susceptibility to security risks such as phishing scams. Using the classic twin design, this study reports estimated heritability of behavioral security to be at least 29.15% by comparing concordance between 144 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins and that between 52 pairs of same-sex dyzygotic (DZ) twins. Zygosity of the twin pairs serves as the primary independent variable in the behavioral genetics analysis, while performance on a behavioral security test serves as the dependent measure. Implications of the study results are discussed with respect to IS research as well as managerial practices

An Empirical Investigation of Antecedents of Internet Abuse in the Workplace

engage in Internet abuse, and whether any of 15 antecedents predict the amount of that abuse. Data were collected from 571 Usenet users in an on-line survey. Aggregating the time for each of the eleven listed methods of Internet abuse revealed a total of 5.8 hours per week, on average. Most of the antecedents in two of the three Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) categories (Attitudes and Subjective Norms), were significant, and none of the antecedents in the third TPB category (Perceived Behavioral Control) showed significance. addiction, self-justification, job satisfaction, peer culture, and supervisor culture were significant predictors of Internet abuse. Exploratory demographic factors computer experience, gender, and firm revenue also showed predictive power

Role of Commitment and Motivation in Knowledge Management Systems Implementation: Theory, Conceptualization, and Measurement of Antecedents of Success

Our ignorance exceeds our knowledge where issues of motivation and commitment of knowledge workers are concerned in the context of knowledge management systems (KMS) implementation [1,16,17,18]. This study is motivated by the pervasive confusion about the role of knowledge workers \u27 motivation and commitment in KMS implementation and sparse, if any, theoretical or empirical research on these issues. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for understanding how knowledge workers\u27 commitment and motivation affect the use of KMS and resulting organizational performance of the KMS. The theoretical and empirical validation of the framework require first and foremost the theoretical development of the knowledge workers \u27 commitment and motivation constructs and empirical validation of these constructs in the context of a real world organizational study of KMS implementation. The authors attempt to fulfill these specific goals within the scope of this paper. Future empirical research on the integration of motivation and commitment within diverse implementation contexts of KMS and organizational knowledge management programs is expected to further advance the theoretical and empirical development of the proposed framework