•  
  •  
 
Communications of the Association for Information Systems

Author ORCID Identifier

Florian Schütz: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1017-6072

Ana Ortiz de Guinea: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1946-3457

Tobias Wolf: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3945-833X

Kristin Masuch: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6628-0207

Simon Trang: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4784-4038

Abstract

Given the rising number of cyber security incidents worldwide, preventive cyber security measures no longer seem sufficient to protect the public and private spheres from existentially threatening losses. Although personal cyber insurance policies covering residual cyber risks already exist on the market, they have not yet been widely adopted by individuals. Therefore, we investigate which conditional configurations of cognitive factors lead private individuals to adopt (or not adopt) personal cyber insurance. Drawing on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we analyze survey data from 301 individuals located in the United States using Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Supported by 12 a priori propositions, our configurational results uncover asymmetric explanatory patterns for why individuals choose to adopt (or not to adopt) personal cyber insurance that go beyond prior adoption-focused and variance-based cyber insurance studies. We contribute to IS research by applying PMT and TPB from a configurational perspective, moving beyond traditional, symmetric models explaining insurance adoption behavior. Our study encourages IS researchers to move beyond well-studied preventive measures and explore cyber insurance as an understudied response to residual cyber risks. Moreover, we offer the cyber insurance industry customer segment-tailored strategies to increase personal cyber insurance adoption.

Download

Share

COinS
 

When commenting on articles, please be friendly, welcoming, respectful and abide by the AIS eLibrary Discussion Thread Code of Conduct posted here.