Overcoming resistance to cybersecurity awareness training: A test of narrative, humor, and fear appeals

Cyberattacks present a major threat to both individuals and organizations. One institution that is particularly susceptible is higher education, due to its high turnover of students and open culture. Although many attacks can be stopped by software or firewalls, some rely on human fallibilities to obtain information or access to a system. To reduce the potential impact of human error, many organizations require users to undergo cybersecurity awareness training. However, these trainings are often viewed as scary, confusing, or boring, which limits their potential effectiveness. In this dissertation, I explore the potential for narratives and emotional appeals (fear, incongruent humor, superiority humor) to overcome resistance to these interventions, drawing from several communication theories. I collect a final sample of 677 undergraduate students from a large Midwestern university for this experiment. The results support the use of a narrative message structure, relative to a non-narrative structure, due to its ability to increase transportation into the messages and, indirectly, increase risk and efficacy perceptions. This investigation also finds that threatening narratives may lead to greater persuasion than humorous narratives in the short term, especially for character-related persuasive mechanisms. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings, including calls for further investigation into the role of character efficacy and the relationship between message length and freedom threat perceptions. Furthermore, I consider the practical implications for cybersecurity awareness and—more broadly—risk interventions, with a focus on use cases for positive emotional appeals, such as humor.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Communication

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Morrow, Ethan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Quick, Brian L.
• Quick, Brian L
• Bigsby, Elisabeth
• Dixon, Travis L
• Barley, William C.

• Entertainment
• Narrative
• Humor
• Fear
• Persuasion
• Resistance
• Cybersecurity
• Awareness Training
• Risk Communication

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Ethan Morrow

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129845

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129845