Introduktion och syfte: Årsmedelnederbörd och antalet extrema nederbördstillfällen i Sverige antas öka i framtiden. När antalet extrema nederbördstillfällen ökar så ökar också antalet försäkringskompensationer till privata husägare. Erfarenhet har visat sig göra människor mer medvetna om associerade risker och påverkar en individs motivation att själv utföra översvämningsskyddande åtgärder. Men bara en tredjedel av de som drabbas av översvämning genomför en åtgärd för att minska framtida risk. Tidigare studier har visat att Protection motivation theory (PMT) kan vara användbar för att förklara vad som påverkar en individs motivation att utföra åtgärder. Tillsammans med ytterligare faktorer som också identifierats påverka en individs benägenhet att utföra skyddsåtgärder mot översvämningar syftar studien till att undersöka orsaker till skada, hantering och uppkomna skador vid översvämning i privata hushåll samt hur olika faktorer påverkar en individs motivation att utföra skyddsåtgärder. Metod: Studien använder en kombination av kvantitativ- och kvalitativ metod för att undersöka förekomst och innebörd av olika fenomen kopplade till översvämning. Datainsamling gjordes med semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer som analyserades med tematisk analys och deskriptiv statistik. Resultat: Resultaten visar att PMT tillsammans med individens tillgängliga information om åtgärder och uppfattning av vem som har det huvudsakliga ansvaret för att hantera översvämning är viktiga för att förklara vad som motiverar en individ till att utföra åtgärder. Bedömning av hotet och bedömning av skyddsåtgärder som båda ingår i PMT påverkar individens motivation men bedömning av skyddsåtgärder verkar ha en större påverkan på utförda åtgärder. Slutsats: För att villaägare ska utföra skyddsåtgärder utöver de som de identifierat förhindrar skada är det viktigt att information om åtgärder och metoder för dess utförande kommer villaägare tillgodo. Även ansvarsfördelningen mellan privatperson och kommun behöver förtydligas då detta identifieras som en orsak till varför individer slutar genomföra åtgärder. / Introduction & aim: Annual mean precipitation and the number of heavy rainfalls is expected to increase in both the short- and long-term perspective in Sweden. As the number of heavy rainfalls increases, the number of insurance compensation to private homeowners also increase. Experience has shown to make people more aware of the associated risks and influences an individual's motivation to carry out flood protective measures himself but only a third of the people exposed performs measures to decrease the risk of future flooding. Previous studies have also found Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to be a useful tool for explaining what influences the probability of an individual to take protective measures. This study aims to investigate causes of damage, management and damage caused by flooding in private households, and how various factors affect an individual's motivation to perform protective measures, using PMT together with additional literature as an explanatory tool. Method: The study uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the occurrence of the different phenomenon’srelated to flooding. Data collection Semi-structural interviews were performed an analysed with thematic analyses and descriptive statistics. Results: The results show that PMT, together with the individual's knowledge on measures and perception of who has the main responsibility for managing flooding, is important in explaining what motivates an individual to perform measures. Threat appraisal and coping appraisal, both included in the PMT, is shown to affect the individual's motivation. Thought coping appraisal seems to have a greater impact on the actions performed. Conclusion: For homeowners to carry out protective measures in addition to those already performed in response to the experienced flooding it’s important that information on measures and how to implement them are provided. The division of responsibility between the private person and the municipality also needs to be clarified to the homeowner as this is identified as a reason why individuals stop implementing measures. / Skyfallsmodellering- Planering, analys och sårbarhetshantering, SPLASH

Target Corporation experienced an information security breach resulting in compromising customers' financial information. Management is responsible for implementing adequate information security policies that protect corporate data and minimize financial losses. The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the effect of a fear appeal communication on an individual's information security policy behavioral intention. The sample population involved information technology professionals randomly selected from the SurveyMonkey audience. A research model, developed using constructs from deterrence theory and protection motivation theory, became the structural model used for partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis of the survey response data, which indicated that self-efficacy was statistically significant. The remaining model variables, perceived threat vulnerability, perceived threat severity, response efficacy, informal sanction certainty, informal sanction severity, formal sanction certainty, and formal sanction severity, were not statistically significant. A statistically significant self-efficacy result could indicate confidence among the population to comply with information security policies. The nonsignificant results could indicate the fear appeal treatment did not motivate a change in behavior or information security policy awareness bias was introduced by selecting information technology professionals. Social change in information security could be achieved by developing an effective information security policy compliance fear appeal communication, which could change information security compliance behavior and contribute to securing the nation's critical cyber infrastructure and protecting data.

Global climate change has brought about not only rise in global temperature, but also other climate anomalies such as severe storms, droughts and floods. To reduce damages from these disasters, both the government and public need to take preparations. This study aims to explore the factors that may influence the public's flood preparedness. The explored factors were derived from Rogers¡¦s (1983) protection motivation theory and Grothmann and Patt's (2005) model of private proactive adaptation to climate change. A questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of Kaohsiung citizens, 490 of whom lived in flood-prone areas and the rest 210 lived in other areas in Kaohsiung. A total of 264 citizens responded. Results showed that threat appraisal and coping appraisal could affect the intent to prepare, and threat appraisal was affected by reliance on government and disaster experience. These suggest that if the government wants to increase people's flood preparedness, it should both (a) make people alert to the severity and high possibility of future floods, and (b) make people believe that they could take affordable and effective measures to reduce their flood damage.

To lessen the threats of global climate change, governments have to set and enforce robust polices to save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. But will the public support these policies? And what cognitive factors will affect the public's support? To answer these two questions, this study surveyed a convenience sample consisted of 171 Taichung citizens and 132 Kaohsiung citizens. The survey questionnaire asked questions for 2 variables about the threats of climate change and 5 variables about carbon reducing policies. The variables were vulnerability, severity, personal benefit, social benefit, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and response cost. All these were cognitive variables based on Rogers' (1983) protection motivation theory. The latter 5 variables were assessed for each of the 3 policies mentioned in the questionnaire. The policies were (a) rebate on electric bills for energy saving; (b) energy tax; and (c) ordering public places to keep temperatures above 26 degrees Celsius in summer. Results showed that though respondents moderately supported energy taxation policy, this policy was the least welcomed. Further, personal benefit, social benefit and self-efficacy had significant effects on all three policies. In contrast, perceived vulnerability to climate threats and response cost (policy-induced personal cost) had no effect on any of the policies. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Background: Environmental sustainability and climate change are of increasing concern. The agriculture and food sector generate a large negative impact on the environment, and whilst the awareness is increasing, limited change in behaviour is visible. This resulted in the exploration of opportunities in relation to this topic, where meat consumption, meat substitutes and reactions to messaging are the main focus.  Purpose: From an environmentally sustainable perspective, to understand how European Millennial and Gen Z consumers react to message appeals on the packaging of meat substitutes, by using the PMT.  Method: A qualitative approach was followed to understand the reactions from European Millennial and Gen Z consumers when showing different message appeals on the packaging of meat substitutes. To explore their feelings, attitudes and perception towards these message appeals, and how this could influence their reaction, semi-structured interviews were conducted.  Conclusion: The results show that message appeals are effective when applying PMT to explore the reaction to reduce meat consumption. The emotional appeal was found to be the most effective. The informational appeal is moderately effective as the effectiveness depends on presentation and communication, and reduce appeal is found ineffective.

Att ha god säkerhetskultur inom högriskindustrier har pekats ut som viktigt för att undvika storskaliga industriella olyckor. En bristande säkerhetskultur är även ett av skälen till flera av de största storskaliga industriella olyckorna som skett de senaste decennierna. Denna studies syfte är att undersöka vad som påverkar säkerhetskulturen på Lantmännen Agroetanol. Detta för att öka förståelsen om dessa faktorer för att skapa en möjlighet för branschen att utvecklas och bli säkrare.   Metoden som har använts i studien är en enkätundersökning, som till största delen är kvantitativ, men som även samlat in kvalitativdata. Det har samlats in data från 50 respondenter, vilket samlats in via verktygen Survey & Report. Resultatet har sedan analyserats med deskriptiv statistik och innehållsanalys. Det har även analyserats tillsammans med vägberoendeteorin och protection motivation teorin. Resultatet visar att öppen kommunikation genom hela säkerhetskedjan är något som har stort inflytande på hur god säkerhetskulturen blir. Om kommunikationen inte är bra nog genom hela cykeln kommer individer tappa motivationen att arbeta för en säkrare arbetsplats. Resultatet visar även på att konsekvenserna av att fastna i ett vägberoende kan leda till en negativ spiral, där det med tiden skapas följdeffekter som leder organisationen allt längre ifrån en god säkerhetskultur. Individer inom en organisation har olika motivation till skyddsåtgärder och därför behövs utbildning och regler.

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.