University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Gaming Tasks as a Method for Studying the Impact of Warning Messages on Information Behavior

Haddad, Alexandra; Sauer, James; Prichard, Jeremy; Spiranovic, Caroline; Gelb, Karen

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/109262

Description

Title
Gaming Tasks as a Method for Studying the Impact of Warning Messages on Information Behavior
Author(s)
  • Haddad, Alexandra
  • Sauer, James
  • Prichard, Jeremy
  • Spiranovic, Caroline
  • Gelb, Karen
Issue Date
2020
Keyword(s)
  • cybercrime
  • information behavior
  • online warnings
Abstract
"New and nontraditional approaches are required to effectively tackle the global problem of cybercrime. Online warning messages offer the unique potential to influence information behavior at the exact point of user decision-making. This research assessed the prevention effect of differing components of warning messages. Thirty-five male participants, aged 18–43, participated in a behavioral-compliance task comprising messages received when visiting websites likely to contain malware. Participants also rated messages on believability, severity, and effects on intention to comply. The components of messages tested were as follows: three ""signal words"" (warning, hazard, and stop), two levels of message explicitness (high, low), and two imagery conditions (eyes, no eyes). Contrary to expectations, explicitness was the only message component to yield a significant preventative effect on self-rated and behavioral responses. Participants not only perceived the explicit messages as more believable, severe, and likely to increase intention to comply but also demonstrated, through their behavioral-compliance data, a preventative effect from more explicit messages. The implications of these findings for designing messages to prevent cybercrimes are explored."
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press and the Illinois School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Series/Report Name or Number
Library Trends 68 (4). Spring 2020
ISSN
0024-2594
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/109262
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2020.0012
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2020 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 68 (4) Spring 2020: Censorship and Information Behavior in the Age of Big Data PRIMARY
Library Trends 68 (4) Spring 2020: Censorship and Information Behavior in the Age of Big Data. Edited by Paul A. Watters.