“If you know what to do, will you take action to avoid mobile phishing attacks”: Self-efficacy, anticipated regret, and gender

Abstract

In recent years, mobile devices have increasingly become a key target for phishing attacks. As such, mobile users need to be able to confidently apply different security safeguards to thwart these mobile phishing threats. Thus, anti-phishing self-efficacy can be instrumental in explaining mobile phishing avoidance behavior. Therefore, the present study proposed a model to explain how anti-phishing self-efficacy along with anticipated regret and gender influences mobile users phishing avoidance behavior. Using data from 231 respondents, the study showed that besides the direct positive influence of both anti-phishing self-efficacy and anticipated regret on mobile phishing avoidance motivation and behavior, the interaction of these factors also has a positive and significant influence on avoidance behavior. Additionally, gender significantly moderated the influence of anti-phishing self-efficacy on both avoidance motivation and behavior with the relationships being more pronounced for women than for men. These results provide an enriched understanding of mobile phishing avoidance behavior, especially by showing the interactions of anti-phishing self-efficacy with anticipated regret and gender.