What Do Users Have to Fear? Using Fear Appeals to Engender Threats and Fear that Motivate Protective Behaviors in Users

A well-known problem in the use of information systems is the risk of data loss due to causes such as equipment failure, sabotage, or neglect. In response, users are told to make frequent backups of their data to minimize those losses. This study investigates several different forms of Protection-Motivation Theory (PMT) that have appeared in the MIS literature and applies them in the area of software backup. In addition, the study examines the relationship between intentions and actual behavior. The results indicate that our version of PMT provides significant explanatory power (36% of the variation) in user intentions, but our longitudinal study shows that intentions are not a very strong prediction of actual backup behavior. Therefore, intentions are not necessarily a useful “ultimate variable” in a behavioral model in this area, as only 13% of actual behavior is explained by intentions alone and 20% of actual behavior is explained by intentions coupled with fear appeals and prior experience with data loss. It is perhaps a clear call to researchers to investigate other contexts to determine how well PMT accounts for actual behavior, and to reveal the currently undetermined factors that might have stronger impacts on action than intentions alone.