Investigating Installers of Security Software in 20 Countries: Individual- and Country-Level Differences

Abstract

This article provides detailed evidence about the installers of online security software on personal computers according to differences among clusters of countries and various other country characteristics. The study presents unique data based on real installations around the world. The data are based on a large-scale quantitative study ( N = 18,727 ) which was prepared in cooperation with an international security company. The cluster analyses revealed four distinct clusters of software installers: those who install the software for a different user, those who are IT technicians and mostly install the software for other users, those who install the software for themselves and others on a shared computer, and those who install the software only for themselves. A second cluster analysis revealed four different country clusters. Within these clusters, countries handle online security software installation similarly; however, there are differences for the clusters according to industrialized, English-speaking countries and the cluster of developing countries. This study presents unique cluster analyses of the countries to shed light on the cross-culture differences in security software adoption and installation. The results implicate that software companies should consider providing different versions of the security software to match the country characteristics.