An Empirical Investigation of Factors that Influence Individual Behavior toward Changing Social Networking Security Settings

While the use of social networking sites continues to rise, security continues to be an important issue. This issue often results when many users do not change their social networking security settings. Such behavior leaves vast amounts of data vulnerable to criminal activities. This study utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine factors that impact users’ behaviors regarding changing their social networking security settings. This research found support for six of the eight hypotheses. Results showed that Attitude (H1), Subjective Norm (H2), and Perceived Behavioral Control (H3) predicted Behavioral Intention. Behavioral Intention (H4) positively influenced Behavior. Apathy (H6) negatively predicted Attitude while Perceived Behavioral Control (H7) positively influenced Social Trust. Finally, Perceived Behavioral Control did not predict Behavior (H5) and Social Trust did not impact Behavioral Intention (H8). These findings have future implications for research and practice.