Understanding anti-plagiarism software adoption: An extended protection motivation theory perspective

a r t i c l e i n f o This study investigates factors affecting the adoption of anti-plagiarism software. Using protection motivation theory as a basis, this research examines the influence of threat and coping appraisals, along with social influences, moral obligation, and actual control variables, on the adoption of anti-plagiarism software. A field survey of 218 faculty members working at U.S. public universities reveals that threat appraisals have a stronger influence on the adoption of anti-plagiarism software than do coping appraisals. The faculty members' moral obligation, academic rank, class size, percentage of creative assignments, and gender significantly affect software adoption, whereas social influence does not. Key implications for theory and practice are discussed. Despite continuing efforts to educate people that Internet plagiarism is improper behavior, the misuse of the Internet as a tool for research and writing appears to be growing at an overwhelming rate (e.g., [33]). One survey reports that almost 40% of college students admitted to engaging in Internet plagiarism in 2005, up 30% since 1999. The Educational Testing Service also reports that a single " paper mill " Web site averages 80,000 hits per day [8]. This problem likely will become even more rampant as a new generation of students, who largely regard information in cyberspace as public goods and are accustomed to downloading free music, enter college in the near future [34,46]. To cope with the epidemic of Internet plagiarism, many colleges and universities add to their formal honor codes, promote greater awareness programs, enact strong enforcement policies, and install anti-plagiarism software. Of these countermeasures, systematic detection using anti-plagiarism software provides a pertinent and effective method [33]. However, contrary to what might be expected, relatively few faculty members adopt anti-plagiarism software [21]. This study seeks to explain the large gap between faculty members' concern about the use of Internet plagiarism and their minimal adoption of preventative software. Some speculation suggests they might be reluctant to adopt anti-plagiarism software, but rigorous research has yet to identify the facilitators and inhibitors of faculty members' decisions to adopt. Previous studies mainly focus on students' motivation to commit Internet plagiarism, not on faculty's role in fighting and educating students about the topic [7]. In addition, previous researchers (e.g., [37]) treat protective systems (e.g., anti-virus software, wireless security) as similar to productivity-enhancing technologies (e.g., spreadsheets, e-mail) and use generic IT adoption theories to address their adoption. Adopting instead …