Goal Framing as a Persuasive Technique to Promote Safe Behavior in the Domain of Information Security

We propose a communication method based on goal framing (positive or negative framing of messages) to improve the persuasive power of the security messages communicated to users of information systems. Following previous findings in goal framing research, we distinguish between messages advocating adopting preventative security measures and messages advocating adopting detective security measures. We test whether positive framing is more effective for advocating prevention and whether negative framing is more effective for advocating detection, as observed in other domains. Results from our pilot study revealed important patterns in data that are partly in line with findings of previous studies in other domains. Possibilities for future research in this area are discussed.