Start Date

10-12-2017 12:00 AM

Description

Identity theft has been a growing concern as criminals, more and more easily, utilize online channels to steal personally identifiable information (PII) for fraud and scams. Identity theft protection services for monitoring and recovering from identity theft are a means of protecting from the potential damages of identity theft. Drawing on the literature in the area of anticipated emotion and protection motivation theory, this study explores the role of anticipated distress of losing one’s PII, in motivating adoption of identity theft protection services. We tested our hypotheses with 636 valid responses collected via Qualtrics panel. Our results show that anticipated distress is positively associated with adoption intention of identity theft protection services, and its effect is partially mediated by perceived threat of identity theft and perceived coping efficacy of the services. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed

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Dec 10th, 12:00 AM

Opting for Identity Theft Protection Services: The Role of Anticipated Distress

Identity theft has been a growing concern as criminals, more and more easily, utilize online channels to steal personally identifiable information (PII) for fraud and scams. Identity theft protection services for monitoring and recovering from identity theft are a means of protecting from the potential damages of identity theft. Drawing on the literature in the area of anticipated emotion and protection motivation theory, this study explores the role of anticipated distress of losing one’s PII, in motivating adoption of identity theft protection services. We tested our hypotheses with 636 valid responses collected via Qualtrics panel. Our results show that anticipated distress is positively associated with adoption intention of identity theft protection services, and its effect is partially mediated by perceived threat of identity theft and perceived coping efficacy of the services. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed