Abstract

Chamberlin (1890) noted that concentrating on only one theory can be risky because one must then force the facts to fit the theory. Instead, we often must select one of many theories to examine our research question and test our hypotheses. However, selecting the best theory when exploring behavior is a huge challenge. For example, when examining the likelihood of adopting technology, one can use many different theories (theory of planned behavior, technology adoption model, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology) that often use many similar constructs. Likewise, when examining security behaviors, one can use one of several security behavior theories including the technology threat avoidance theory (TTAT) (Liang and Xue 2009), protection motivation theory (PMT) (Rogers 1975), Fear Appeals Model (FAM) (Johnston and Warkentin 2010), and health belief model (HBM) (Rosenstock 1974). So which theory should one use when exploring the security behavior of individuals? Does one predict actions/motivations better than the others? Methods: The researcher has collected data using a general population of individuals working across the United States to compare these theories. SmartPLS is used to analyze the models and the results will be shared. Discussion: The discussion will concentrate on the methods used, the results, and whether other metrics would better determine which model works best in this scenario. With insight into these theories, my goal is to lead a rich discussion of methods that were used to compare theories. The theories will all be tested with the data collected to answer the following questions. Outcome: While the focus is currently on several security theories, the purpose is that with the rich discussion, we will identify whether the methodology used here is sufficient or if other computations or tests could be run to compare the theories. Results should be transferrable to other theories.

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