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A Cross Industry Study of Institutional Pressures on Organizational Effort to Raise Information Security Awareness

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  • Hwee-Joo Kam

    (University of Tampa)

  • Thomas Mattson

    (University of Richmond)

  • Sanjay Goel

    (University at Albany, SUNY)

Abstract

In this paper, we conceptually and empirically investigate the relationship between industry and information security awareness (ISA). Different industries have unique security related norms, rules, and values, which we propose promotes different levels of organizational effort to raise their employees’ general ISA. To examine these potential industry effects, we draw on Neo-Institutional Theory (NIT) because different industries operate in unique institutional environments. We specifically theorize that the pressures from the three institutional pillars (regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive) will affect employees across all industries but the magnitude of those effects will vary across industries, because different industries have institutionalized security practices in unique ways. To evaluate our theorized relationships empirically, we surveyed employees in the banking, healthcare, retail, and higher education industries. We found that our subjects’ perceptions of the pressures from the three institutional pillars positively affected their perceptions of how much effort their organizations exerted to raise their general ISA. However, we also found that these effects were not consistent across our surveyed employees in the different industries, especially related to the direct and moderating effect of perceived normative institutional pressures. The implication of our paper is that future behavioral information security research should consider how industry and their corresponding institutional structures might affect (positively or negatively) the relationships in our core theoretical models.

Suggested Citation

  • Hwee-Joo Kam & Thomas Mattson & Sanjay Goel, 2020. "A Cross Industry Study of Institutional Pressures on Organizational Effort to Raise Information Security Awareness," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 1241-1264, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:infosf:v:22:y:2020:i:5:d:10.1007_s10796-019-09927-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10796-019-09927-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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