The purpose of the present study is to make contributions to the area of behavioral information security in the field of Information Systems and to assist in the improved development of Information Security Policy instructional programs to increase the policy compliance of individuals. The role of an individual’s experience in the context of information security behavior was explored through the lens of protection motivation theory. The practical foundation was provided by the framework of Security Education, Training, and Awareness (SETA) programs which are typically used by organizations within the United States to instruct employees regarding information security. A pilot study and primary study were conducted with separate data collections and analyses. Both existing and new measures were tested in the study which used a Modified Solomon Four Group Design to accommodate data collection via a web-based survey that included a two-treatment experimental component. The primary contribution to academia proposed in this study was to expand the protection motivation theory by including direct and vicarious experience regarding both threats and responses to the threats. Clear definitions and valid and reliable reflective measures for each of the four experience constructs were developed and are presented in this dissertation. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that all four forms of experience play an important part in the prediction of the primary constructs in the protection motivation model, and as such ultimately play an important part in the prediction of behavioral intent in the context of information security. The primary contribution to practice was expected to be specifically related to the application of fear appeals within a SETA instructional framework. The contribution to practice made by this dissertation became instead the implications resulting from the strong performance of the experience constructs. Specifically, experience, both direct and vicarious, and with threats and with responses, are all important influences on individuals’ behavioral choices regarding information security and should continue to be explored in this context.

Adopting new technologies enable enterprises to improve employees¡¦ performance and competitive advantages. The differences in natures of adopting processes of organizations and individuals need further clarify for better understandings regarding to their framework in adopting new technologies. This paper based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and existed research to construct the relations amongst the effective factors which affect the adopting new technologies in either individual or organization perspectives. In the individual level, the constructed research framework indicated employees¡¦ e-Learning satisfaction could be measured by three major dimensions, the perceived e-Learning qualities, individual internal beliefs (usefulness and ease of use), and social influence. Eight proposed hypothesis were confirmed by Structured Equation Modeling analysis of 428 valid samples. Path analyses verified the original path in TRA, TAM, and D&M ISS Model. The perceived e-Learning qualities and social influence cause significantly influence to employees¡¦ e-Learning satisfaction in both directly and indirectly, which by way of individual internal beliefs, positive paths. The results also showed that perceived information quality, usefulness, system quality, social influence, ease of use, and than service quality positively affect employees¡¦ satisfaction of e-Learning in descend sequences. Where, in the organization level, decision framework of adopting new technology of oil refinery was composed by modified Delphi method and was verified by Analytic Network Process from the survey of 15 experts. The consistency opinions confirmed four inter-depended dimensions and seventeen criteria were included. The results suggested that process fitness, environmental fitness, actors¡¦ organizational fitness, and new technology characteristics are important dimensions of adopting new technology in descend sequences. On the other hand, economic feasibility, relative advantages, government, environment acceptance, and engineering feasibility are the top five important factors to be evaluated during the adopting process. The different natures of adopting processes of organizations and individuals cause their different framework in adopting new technologies. This paper concluded that new technology, actors¡¦, environmental characteristics are three interdepended dimensions which influence the adopting behavior no matter in individual or organization context. In organization level of oil refinery case, actors¡¦ characteristics consist not only of actors¡¦ organizational fitness but also process fitness, which is the most important dimension while adopting new technology. In final, the implications of findings were discussed and directions were also suggested for future research.