Uncertainties of Online Phishing Risks and Consumer Decision Making in B2C E-Commerce

Phishing has been a growing information security risk for online consumers. However, various levels of uncertainties exist in consumer knowledge and evaluation of online phishing risks. Drawing upon research in decision under risks and uncertainties, this study categorizes an online consumer’s knowledge of phishing risks as falling under one of four uncertainty states: known certainty, known uncertainty, unknown uncertainty, and unknowable uncertainty. This research focuses on the effect of uncertainty levels of ecommerce consumers’ knowledge of phishing risks on their online purchase intentions and decision. A series of four group experiments were conducted with the four uncertainty states as treatments among 120 subjects. The experimental results indicate that consumer willingness to pay and intention to purchase vary systematically under different uncertainty levels of knowledge of phishing risks. Index Terms – E-commerce, intention to purchase, phishing, uncertainties, willingness to pay