Author

Casey Thomas

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Sandra Carpenter

Committee Member

M. O'Brien

Committee Member

Aurora Torres

Subject(s)

Internet--Moral and ethical aspects, Consumer protection, Right of Privacy, Electronic commerce--Security measures, Electronic information resources--Access control, Disclosure of information, Computer crimes

Abstract

Disclosure of personal information online has been associated with identity theft. Effective warnings can potentially decrease identity theft by decreasing personal information disclosed online. The present experiment explored whether disposition to trust, trust beliefs in the warning, risk perceptions, perceived ease of use of the website, and the source of the warning could affect disclosure of personal information online. The model is unique to the literature because it has multidimensional constructs of trust and multifaceted constructs of risk that may explain disclosure as an online behavior. The model was tested using a 2 (identity: email address and driver's license) x 3 (warning source: FBI Cyber Division, Department of Justice, and Google) between subjects design, with participants interacting with a research website designed as an online auto insurance price quote tool. The results proved mixed support for the hypotheses, but indicated that warning sources and trust in those warnings were effective in reducing identity

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