Continuous Secure Behavior from Process Memory Model Perspective

Research has investigated the role of numerous influences on individual information security behaviors, including protection motivation, deterrence, and various dispositional and environmental factors. One major research stream has looked at threat and coping appraisals by IT users. However, users’ beliefs, attitudes, appraisals, and intentions are not static, and there has been little attention to how these factors interact over time. When users (directly or vicariously) experience a security threat, they tend to engage in improved security hygiene, but often only for a limited time. We explore the factors that determine the continuous secure behavior of IT users, drawing on theoretical lenses of the Process Model of Memory, prior experience effects, and the underlying mechanisms of post-adoption behavior, including feedback, sequential updating mechanism, habit, and reason-based action. Ultimately, we seek to answer the following research question: What factors determine the IT users’ security hygiene behaviors over time?