Design and Evaluation of CFC-targeted Security Nudges

Aimed at breaking up the myth of the “average user”, the notion of personalization promises to solve the contradiction between the population’s heterogeneity and one-size-fits-all security nudges. To further explore the promising avenue, we propose to design personalized security nudges targeted at different mindsets and make the Consideration for Future Consequences (CFC) the testbed. Namely, we designed two CFC-targeted security nudges, Promotion and Prevention, for the individuals who care about future and immediate consequences, respectively. An online survey (N = 145) was conducted to test their effectiveness. Results show that both the nudges can improve users’ security attitudes, while the moderation effects imply that the Promotion nudge is merely effective for the users having deep concerns about future consequences. The findings indicate the feasibility of designing security nudges targeted at future orientations and illustrate the importance of tailoring nudges according to individuals’ differences.