Where authorities fail and experts excel: Influencing internet users' compliance intentions. Issue 128 (May 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bansal, Gaurav; Thatcher, Jason; Schuetz, Sebastian Walter
• Is Part Of: Computers & security. Issue 128(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-05
• Subjects: Cybersecurity -- Authority -- Experts -- Influence tactics -- Internet users; Computer security -- Periodicals; Electronic data processing departments -- Security measures -- Periodicals; 005.805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cose.2023.103164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0167-4048

Abstract

Highlights: Recipients of public security messages judge senders' authority and expertise. Formal authorities and experts use different mechanisms to attain compliance. Formal authority figures rely on fear appeals to increase compliance. Expert leaders relying on expert power (rather than coercive) engender compliance. Messages from formal authority figures can evoke reactance and undermine compliance. Abstract: Cyber threats continue to rise because Internet users are often unwilling to adopt simple security behaviors. Public security messages sent by leaders could formally and informally influence Internet users to take action to protect themselves from threats. However, scant research has examined how leaders' power or expertise influences Internet users' willingness to comply with requested security behaviors. In this paper, we develop a research model using the bases of power theory and three related theories (social influence theory, psychological reactance theory, and attribution theory) to explain how security messages from authoritative and expert leaders, respectively, shape users' intentions to comply with the recommendations of a security message. Analysis of data gathered in a field experiment suggests that security messages from leaders can have positive and negative consequences. If sent by leaders with formal authority (i.e., those high in coercive power), security messages may backfire because they fail to stimulate security cognitions. In contrast, if sent by expert leaders (i.e., those high in expertise), security messages are more likely to work as intended. Our findings offer insights into how public security messages can be made more effective. Graphical abstract: Image, graphical abstract