After the hit of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotel industry's efforts need to focus on recovering travelers' confidence by introducing new safe and clean programs or seals. However, there is a lack of guidelines regarding which hotel safety/cleaning programs and what communication strategies are more effective when approaching guests. This study aims to address this gap by using a 2 (COVID-19 Message Type: Fear Appeals vs. Hope Appeals) × 2 (Hotel Safety/Cleaning Program Type: Internal vs. Third-Party) between-subject experiment design. Specifically, it applies the protection motivation theory in investigating the effects of different messages (hope vs. fear) along with different types of hotel safety/cleaning programs (internal vs. third-party) on guests' booking intentions. The moderating role of risk propensity was also explored. The data were collected in a public university located south of the U.S. Different ANOVA and MANOVA tests were conducted. The results suggest that hope appeal messages and hotel internal cleaning programs arouse higher booking intentions. When presenting COVID-19 related information provided by hotels, hope appeals represent a better communication strategy. In addition, the coping and threat appraisals showed to be correlated with hotel guests' booking intentions. Moreover, response efficacy was the strongest predictor with a positive correlation, whereas perceived severity was the second strongest predictor with a negative correlation. Last, risk propensity was found a significant moderator between guests' response efficacy and booking intentions. Participants under the risk-taker category reported higher booking intentions even when their self-efficacy perceptions were low.

Individuals are considered the weakest link when it comes to securing a personal computer system. All the technological solutions can be in place, but if individuals do not make appropriate security protection decisions they introduce holes that technological solutions cannot protect. This study investigates what personal characteristics influence differences in individual security behaviors, defined as behaviors to protect against security threats, by adapting Protection Motivation Theory into an information security context. This study developed and validated an instrument to measure individual security behaviors. It then tested the differences in these behaviors using the security research model, which built from Protection Motivation Theory, and consisted of perceived security vulnerability, perceived security threat, security self-efficacy, response efficacy, and protection cost. Participants, representing a sample population of home computer users with ages ranging from 20 to 83, provided 279 valid responses to surveys. The behaviors studied include using anti-virus software, utilizing access controls, backing up data, changing passwords frequently, securing access to personal computers, running software updates, securing wireless networks, using care when storing credit card information, educating others in one's house about security behaviors, using caution when following links in emails, running spyware software, updating a computer's operating system, using firewalls, and using pop-up blocking software. Testing the security research model found different characteristics had different impacts depending on the behavior studied. Implications for information security researchers and practitioners are provided, along with ideas for future research. / Ph. D.

In this thesis I aim to determine the importance of extreme weather experience in Swedish farmers crop mix decisions. In this way, I add to the evolving field of climate change impacts on farmer livelihoods with a specific focus on perception of risk and locational vulnerabilities. I develop a simplified measure for locationally specific vulnerabilities and position these against the actual crop mixes that Swedish farmers have chosen, to test the influence of extreme rainfall exposure on decision making. My data builds off the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) Database of farm and crop extents for 99% of Swedish agricultural land between 2015 and 2023, and climate data from a large-scale meteorological assessment across Europe. I also account for environmental characteristics that may affect vulnerability and the perception of risk via soil characteristics. I use these data to map functional diversity changes at the farm level over the period, and also for estimating mixed models with two way interaction terms. Based on an adapted Protection Motivation Theory (Rogers, 1975), I expect that farms that are more exposed to an increased frequency of extreme weather events (rainfall over the 95th and 99th percentile) year on year, would diversify their crop mix as a risk mitigation practice. However, I find that on average, previous exposure to extreme weather has essentially no effect on the level of diversity a farmer chooses to pursue. When decomposing these findings into different farmer types and environmental conditions there is a moderate level of heterogeneity such that farmers that are more able to take adaptive measures, do. Also, farmers that have planted more diverse farms in the past tend to continue doing so. While those that trend toward less diverse crop mixes tend to respond to exposure by further specializing their crop mixes. These findings suggest that there is a weak underlying preference for higher levels of diversity among Swedish farmers, however the non-climatic factors beyond extreme weather dominate diversity and adaptation decision making. This may be understood as farmers aiming to make rational decisions, but finding their options significantly constrained by the larger political economy in which they find themselves.

I den nuvarande Big data-eran där stora mängder information samlas och bearbetas för att användas i kommersiellt syfte har den digitala integritetens betydelse ökat. Oro kring hur information samlas in och används har blivit mer aktuellt de senaste åren. Facebook-Cambridge Analytica-skandalen är ett exempel på hur information har använts utan användares samtycke med allvarliga konsekvenser. Detta har ökat den oro många känner kring sin personliga integritet. I Europa har General Data Protection Regulation haft en viktig roll i att skydda användares digitala integritet. Tidigare studier visar att oro kring den digitala integriteten har ökat bland vissa grupper i Sverige. En av dessa grupper är universitetsstudenter som är fokus för denna undersökning. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka oron för den digitala integriteten som finns i samhället utifrån studenters perspektiv. Den metod som har använts är semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Undersökningens resultat visar att studenter känner trygghet när de använder informationsteknologi. Resultatet tyder på att de faktorer som påverkar studenters oro, eller brist på den, för sin digitala integritet är kopplat till tillit och kontext. Resultatet visar att orsaken till detta är tillit till GDPR, tillit till att företag kommer att följa de lagar som finns, tron att viss personlig information inte anses ha högt värde samt tillit till den egna förmågan att kunna skydda sig själva. Resultatet visar också att studenter är villiga att ge tillgång till personlig informationen om de anser att det är nödvändigt eller gynnar dem på något sätt. / In the current Big data era, where large amounts of information is collected and processed for commercial use, the importance of digital integrity has become more evident. The Facebook-Cambdrige analytica scandal is an example on how information has been used without consent. This has increased the concerns about users personal information. In Europe the General Data Protection Regulation has been an important part of protecting users digital integrity.  Previous studies show that concerns about digital integrity have increased among certain groups in Sweden. One of these groups are university graduates which are the focus of this study. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the concern for digital integrity that exists in society from the students perspective. The method that has been used in this study has been individual semi-structured interviews.  The results of the study shows that students feel secure when they use information technology. The results suggest that the factors that affect students' concerns, or lack thereof, of their digital integrity are linked to trust and context. The results shows that the reason for this is trust in GDPR, trust that companies will follow the law, belief that some personal information isn't of a high value and belief in their own ability to protect themself. The results of the study also shows that the informants were willing to let websites get access to certain personal information when they trusted the website and when they found it beneficial to them.

Ransomware-attacker har blivit ett allt större hot i och med samhällets ständigt pågående digitalisering. Denna studie undersöker vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att förhindra ransomware-attacker mot mindre svenska kommuner. För att åstadkomma detta genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex olika respondenter. De som intervjuades arbetade alla i mindre svenska kommuner och hade god insyn och kunskap kring kommunens IT- och informationssäkerhetsarbete. Materialet analyserades sedan utifrån Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Studien diskuterar både kommunernas attityd till informationssäkerhet samt konstaterar vilka säkerhetsåtgärder som utmärker sig som viktigast. Dessa var skyddade säkerhetskopior, utbildning samt kontinuitetsplaner kopplade till just IT-attacker. / Ransomware attacks have become an increasing threat with the ongoing digitalization of society. This study investigates what factors are important to prevent ransomware attacks against smaller Swedish municipalities. To accomplish this, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six different respondents. The interviewees all worked in smaller Swedish municipalities and had good insight and knowledge of the municipality's IT and information security work. The material was then analyzed using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). The study discusses both the municipalities' attitude to information security and notes which security measures stand out as most important. These were protected backups, education and continuity plans linked to IT attacks. The paper then concludes with suggestions for further research.

Background: Hotels are considered a risky environment because guests are not expected to be awake and are expected to have poor local knowledge. Although hotels doesn’t have acceptable fire protection according to the only previously known study in this area. This is a problem because every four to five days there is a hotel fire. The hotels would be able to reach an acceptable fire safety by pursuing a systematic fire protection and take certain construction actions. Aim: Identifying details that need to be introduced in hotels daily work with fire protection based on the Swedish law and case studies. Method: A literature review and two case studies of hotel fires. Results: The hotel in Sweden followed the Swedish legislation in force in 2009 and had a good organizational fire protection. The hotel mainly needed to improve was the structural fire protection, adapted for disabled people, control of the acoustics in the evacuation alarm and had more smoke detectors. The hotel in England didn’t follow the law in force in England in 2007 and was nearly entirely lacking fire protection. They needed primarily improve the structural fire protection, adapted for disabled people, upgrade their alarm, had several smoke detectors and had a systematic fire protection. Conclusion: Swedish legislation still needs to be clear up because there is still room for interpretation of the laws as they are functional requirements. It is good that the Swedish legislation has adapted to fires that already has occurred in Sweden, but what could be done better today is motivate hotels to get involved in their fire protection. A committed management in hotels means better systematic fire protections and more money spend on the fire protection. One way to motivate hotel managements is to further inform about the consequences of a fire and to encourage hotels to certify themselves. But is not enough to only have a good systematic fire protection, the technical fire protection also needs to upgrade. It should be introduce higher demands that the hotels should be more handicap-friendly and update their fire alarms, because it saves lives and lower the material damage.

Recent research in Australia has found that people with a mental illness experience higher mortality rates from preventable illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and diabetes compared to the general population. Lifestyle and other behavioural factors contribute significantly to these illnesses. Lifestyle behaviours that affect these illnesses include lack of physical activity, consumption of a poor diet and cigarette smoking. Research on the influence of these factors has been mainly directed towards the mainstream population in Australia. Consequently, there remains limited understanding of health behaviours among individuals with psychiatric disabilities, their health needs, or factors influencing their participation in protective health behaviours. This thesis presents findings from two studies. Study 1 evaluated the utility of the main components of Roger’s (1983) Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explain health behaviours among people with a mental illness. A clinical population of individuals with schizophrenia (N=83), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) (N=70) and individuals without a mental illness (N=147) participated in the study. Respondents provided information on intentions and self-reported behaviour of engaging in physical activity, following a low-fat diet, and stopping smoking. Study 2 investigated the health care service needs of people with psychiatric disabilities (N=20). Results indicated that the prevalence of overweight, cigarette smoking and a sedentary lifestyle were significantly greater among people with a mental illness compared to that reported for individuals without a mental illness. Major predictors of the lack of intentions to adopt health behaviours among individuals with schizophrenia and MDD were high levels of fear of cardiovascular disease, lack of knowledge of correct dietary principles, lower self-efficacy, a limited social support network and a high level of psychiatric symptoms. In addition, findings demonstrated that psychiatric patients are disproportionately higher users of medical services, but they are under-users of preventive medical care services. These differences are primarily due to a lack of focus on preventive health, feelings of disempowerment and lower satisfaction of patient-doctor relationships. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of designing education and preventive programs for individuals with schizophrenia and MDD.

Abstract Employee violations of IS security policies is recognized as a key concern for organizations. Although interest in IS security has risen in recent years, little empirical research has examined this problem. To address this research gap, this dissertation identifies deliberate IS security policy violations as a phenomenon unique from other forms of computer abuse. To better understand this phenomenon, three guidelines for researching deliberate IS security violations are proposed. An analysis of previous behavioral IS security literature shows that no existing study meets more than one of these guidelines. Using these guidelines as a basis, this dissertation examines IS security policy violations using three theoretical models drawn from the following perspectives: neutralization theory, rational choice theory, and protection motivation theory. Three field studies involving surveys of 1,423 professional respondents belonging to 7 organizations across 47 countries were performed for empirical testing of the models. The findings of these studies identify several factors that strongly predict intentions to violate IS security policies. These results significantly increase our understanding of why employees choose to violate IS security policies and provide empirically-grounded implications for how practitioners can improve employee IS security policy compliance.

Healthcare personnel (HCP) frequently wear gloves when they care for patients in Standard Precautions to prevent contact with potentially infectious blood or body fluids. When HCP use gloves appropriately they reduce the risk of cross-contamination and decrease the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). However, if HCP use gloves inappropriately they may inadvertently spread pathogens to patients and the patients’ environment. This study used a descriptive structured observational design to investigate three aspects of HCP glove use in a United States long-term care facility (LTCF). First, the PI examined the degree of inappropriate HCP glove use in a random sample of 76 HCP. Results indicate that the HCP used gloves inappropriately, failing to change gloves 66% of the time when a glove change was indicated. Over 44% of the HCP gloved touch points were defined as contaminated. Second, the PI examined the reliability of a new glove use tool (GUST). Results indicate the GUST is a reliable tool when used by trained observers documenting HCP glove use during toileting and perineal care events in LTCF, with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC 2,1) over 0.75 for indicators of inappropriate glove use. Third, exploratory analysis indicated significant differences between inappropriate glove use in females and males. Female HCP had significantly more failed glove changes and contaminated touch points than male HCP in this study (p = 0.003). Future research studies should assess US HCP glove use to provide data needed for development of strategies to improve HCP glove use and reduce HAI.

User information security behavior has been an area of growing demand in information systems (IS) research. Unfortunately, most of the previous research done in user information security behavior have been in broad contexts, therefore creating a gap in the literature of similar research that focuses on specific emerging technologies and trends. With the growing reliance on mobile devices to increase the flexibility, speed and efficiency in how we work, communicate, shop, seek information and entertain ourselves, it is obvious that these devices have become data warehouses and platform for data in transit. This study was an empirical and quantitative study that gathered data leveraging a web-survey. Prior to conducting the survey for the main data collection, a Delphi study and pilot study were conducted. Convenience sampling was the category of nonprobability sampling design used to gather data. The 7-Point Likert Scale was used on all survey items. Pre-analysis data screening was conducted prior to data analysis. The Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data gathered from a total of 390 responses received. The results of this study showed that perceived threat severity has a negative effect on protection motivation, while perceived threat susceptibility has a positive effect on protection motivation. Contrarily, the results from this study did not show that perceived response cost influences protection motivation. Response efficacy and mobile self-efficacy had a significant positive influence on protection motivation. Mobile device security usage showed to be significantly influenced positively by protection motivation. This study brings additional insight and theoretical implications to the existing literature. The findings reveal the PMT’s capacity to predict user behavior based on threat and coping appraisals within the context of mobile device security usage. Additionally, the extension of the PMT for the research model of this study implies that mobile devices users also can take recommended responses to protect their devices from security threats.