Does Digital Native Status Impact End-User Antivirus Usage?

Abstract

Due to the increasingly online nature of business (e-commerce), it is essential to understand how end-users can be protected from malicious online activities such as malware. Several factors have been examined in the research on this topic. Digital native status was identified as a factor that has not been investigated thoroughly. This study examined how the security decision-making process is impacted by digital native status by looking at Protection Motivation Theory. Digital Native Status was investigated as a mediating factor in the PMT model. Intent to use antivirus was utilized as the protective measure. The findings indicate that digital native status does not mediate Fear. However, other factors, such as Fear, selfefficacy, and response efficacy, play a part in the intent to use antivirus. Conversely, the other constructs in the model, response-costs and maladaptive rewards, did not have a relationship with antivirus usage. Practically speaking, employers and eCommerce businesses could use these findings to identify factors that play into their end-user behaviors. These findings can be utilized to help guide training programs and professionals researching end-user behavior. These findings also suggest that future research should focus on factors other than age.