Protection Motivation Theory and Contingent Valuation: Perceived Realism, Threat and WTP Estimates for Biodiversity Protection

We report on a discrete-choice CV study conducted in Germany to value the WTP for biodiversity protection in less developed countries. To systematically investigate survey realism and subjective threat assessment from the loss of biodiversity described in the scenario the study includes questions to uncover the constructs of Protection Motivation Theory, which is introduced to the CV literature. The patterns of responses to such questions are analysed using an Expectation-Maximization algorithm to derive class membership probabilities. These are found to match the predictions of Protection Motivation Theory and systematically improve the logistic analysis of the WTP responses.Biodiversity valuation, Protection motivation theory, Latent class analysis, Expectation-Maximization algorithm, Contingent valuation

Toward a Configurational Protection Motivation Theory

Protection motivation theory (PMT) has been widely used as a theory to explain users’ adoption of health information technologies. Prior studies based on PMT tend to treat it as a variance model and explain the parallel and independent effects of its constructs. This theorization neglects the original insights about the sequence of decision making and the interdependencies between PMT constructs. To address both of these two issues, this study proposes and tests a configurational protection motivation theory (CPMT). Specifically, different configurations are identified to reflect the potential sequential effects, substitutive effects, and complementary effects. A survey of 204 mobile health service users in China is conducted to test CPMT and the data analysis results confirm the theoretical expectations. This study can contribute to protection motivation theory and e-health research and suggest practitioners to think in a holistic way during service promotion

When does One Weight Threats more? An Integration of Regulatory Focus Theory and Protection Motivation Theory

Protection motivation theory has been adopted to understand the driver of information security behaviors broadly. Based on theoretical arguments and empirical results, security behaviors are driven by individuals’ appraisal toward threats and coping. However, while most study focus on the impacts of independent variables on dependent variables, previous studies largely ignore a fact that, under certain conditions, individuals tend to weight the importance of threat (or coping) appraisal more. Given that the goal of security behavior is to protection information and individuals may be oriented to the goal differently, we argue that the magnitude of the impacts of threat and coping appraisal may be contingent on individuals’ goal orientation. Specifically, this study attempts to integrate protection motivation theory with regulatory focus theory and explore whether (1) threat appraisal is more critical when prevention focus in high and (2) coping appraisal generates more impact when promotion focus is high. By integrating protection motivation theory with regulatory focus theory and revealing the moderating roles of regulatory focus on protection motivations, we expect to contribute to protection motivation theory by showing the effects of threat and coping appraisal may be contingent on certain conditions

SAFEGUARDING AGAINST ROMANCE SCAMS – USING PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY

Online dating offers new opportunities for individuals to seek a romantic partner; however, the platform has also been exploited by criminals seeking to perpetrate scams, classified as online dating (romance) fraud. These are arguably one of the most distressing frauds, as victims suffer both financially and emotionally. Thus, this emergent issue has fielded increasing attention from diverse disciplines, though research still remains limited – in particular, investigation of romance fraud from a risk mitigation and information systems (IS) approach has been neglected. This study begins to address these shortfalls by utilising Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a framework for understanding the factors and processes underlying intention to use protective tools safeguarding against online dating (OD) scams. The results of Partial Least Squares analysis showed the perceptions and importance of PMT factors differs among protection mechanisms, highlighting the need to better understand and thus enhance the mechanisms based on empirical evidence. Additionally, an online dater‘s assessment of the protective mechanism (and protective response) generally has a greater influence on adopting protective behaviour, than the evaluation of the scam itself

Secure coding intention via protection motivation theory based survey

Abstract. According to studies, programming skills are obtained by a large number of persons but most of them lack the ability to produce secure software. This statement reflects the essence of this thesis and provides a direction to problem solving. The focus of this study is a research into the possibility of using a questionnaire prepared with the use of a protection motivation theory (PMT) to provide a indication of intention for software developers towards secure programming techniques. This study answers the following research question: Can secure programming intention be aroused with a PMT questionnaire? The questionnaire consists of three categories: background-, awareness-/knowledge- and PMT questions. Background questions are used to identify the focus group. Awareness and knowledge questions are used to provide secure coding information which is reflected by cognitive thinking via PMT questions. The questionnaire was built as web survey and distributed via professional social network. The questionnaire uses focused subject group working in micro and small enterprises (<50 employees). The study results are analysed against PMT components to validate focus group selection as a correct choice. Survey findings analysed in qualitative manner (partly in quantitative), indicates that majority of subjects created intention towards studying or using secure coding techniques. The focus group PMT analysis results shows that in each PMT section, at least over half indicated positive response into it. These results will provide a deeper research direction for how to promote secure coding

Crisis Intervention Team Training and the Protection Motivation Theory

The problem addressed in this phenomenological study was the lack of documentation that supported the lived experiences of crisis intervention team (CIT)-trained police officers related to their field encounters with persons with mental illnesses. The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experiences of officers among CIT-trained police officers to address the problem. The protection motivation theory was aligned closest with the teachings of CIT training as described by the study participants’ lived experiences. Participants provided the study’s collected data, which was composed of completed questionnaires and transcribed interviews. The empirical theoretical framework method of analysis used was a combination of inductive coding and theme analysis that established the results of this study. Key findings of the study identified a significant amount of frustration expressed in the lived experiences of the CIT-trained police officers. Frustration was experienced by officers who applied the protection motivation theory to ensure the well-being of persons experiencing a mental crisis. There was considerable pushback from the public mental health facilities, which added to the frustration experienced by CIT-trained police officers who attempted to navigate treatment with the limited resources available to help persons in mental crisis. The positive social change produced from this study included recommendations to police leadership and mental health advocates to encourage certain CIT-training-related practices that directly impact CIT field encounters with persons in mental crises. Specialized training may promote improved departmental outcomes such as sustainability of gains for those in crises and enable police officer accountability and reliability

Use of protection motivation theory in non-compliance research

There is a rich stream of research focusing on employee non-/compliance with information security policies. However, this stream suffers from inconsistent, even contradicting results and lack of theoretical congruence. Attempts to explain such inconsistencies have included investigation of possible moderating effects of contextual variables. We further investigate these inconsistencies by analytically disentangling the consistency in the implementation of the four most used variables of Protection Motivation Theory—Perceived severity, Perceived susceptibility, Response efficacy, and Self-efficacy—across the research field. Specifically, we address the following research question; what inconsistencies, if any, are there in the use of Protection motivation theory in non-/compliance research? We find that three of the variables analyzed have been ascribed more than one theoretical property across the seven studies reviewed, thereby making it problematic to fully understand their cause-and-effect relationships. That is, it is unclear which property that explains employees’ intention to comply with IS policies, whether they have the same effects, or have an increased effect when applied in conjunction. This study contributes to the literature by proposing that inconsistent results may not only be due to omitted moderating factors, but also to theoretical properties of key variables being inconsistently defined and measured

Fear: A Misunderstood Component of Organizational Transformation

Corporate transformations are being implemented by many organizations, however, successes are remarkably rare. This paper suggests that a contributing factor might be the ineffective use of fear in employee communications. Rather than reducing fear, companies can enhance the transformation process by harnessing fear to quickly change behavior. Protection motivation theory has been applied by marketing researchers to suggest that fear appeals containing strong threats and information on coping strategies can be successful in changing behavior. Human resource managers can be instrumental in designing effective communications that incorporate fear-inducing messages and information on coping strategies

Valuing Employees: A Success Strategy for Fast Growth Firms and Fast Paced Individuals

This research considers the effect of pace on employee and firm performance. Population ecology and protection motivation theory suggest that to achieve success in a fast paced environment, companies should create an environment where employees feel they are valued. The theories emphasize that both fast pace and value are needed for higher performance. In the first study, I find that firms placing high value on employees and growing at a faster pace achieve higher stock price growth. In the second study, I find that employees working at a faster pace and who feel valued are higher performers

Determining motivation to engage in safe food handling behaviour

Purpose: To apply the protection motivation theory to safe food handling in order to determine the efficacy of this model for four food handling behaviours: cooking food properly, reducing cross-contamination, keeping food at the correct temperature and avoiding unsafe foods. Design: A cross-sectional approach was taken where all protection motivation variables: perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and protection motivation, were measured at a single time point. Findings: Data from 206 participants revealed that the model accounted for between 40 and 48% of the variance in motivation to perform each of the four safe food handling behaviours. The relationship between self-efficacy and protection motivation was revealed to be the most consistent across the four behaviours. Implications: While a good predictor of motivation, it is suggested that protection motivation theory is not superior to other previously applied models, and perhaps a model that focuses on self-efficacy would offer the most parsimonious explanation of safe food handling behaviour, and indicate the most effective targets for behaviour change interventions. Originality: This is the first study to apply and determine the efficacy of protection motivation theory in the context of food safety