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Subject:Re: Persuading people to take the right action From:Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com> To:wongword -at- ozemail -dot- com -dot- au Date:Wed, 26 Mar 2008 04:08:26 -0700
wongword -at- ozemail -dot- com -dot- au wrote:
> The following text is an extract from:
>http://www.scambusters.org/identitytheft2.html
>
> Now if you were trying to persuade people
> to be careful would you use this approach
> of focusing on the wrong action and describing
> the correct action in a less prominent location?
I have to say that this site isn't one I'd recommend for a visit.
I think this sort of "expert advice" website probably doesn't have much
effect on people not already thinking about security or understanding
identity as a commodity.
As with conventional wisdom about tech writing, I think you'd find that
some people respond and are attracted to the site's posture of authority
and expertise, while others wouldn't take long to say "Forget you" to it.
I don't see any way to say that the site, as a representative of a style
of danger warning, is effective or not. Some people will be attracted to
it, some will be repelled, I think. It intrigued me long enough to read
the seven headings, but I din't find much of anything that was
interesting or informative.
What I did see is that the site selects for visitors who are not
sophisticated about internet dangers and identity theft. Then I saw that
the site could easily deliver some surreptitious payload of spyware to
the bunnies who go clicking on all the links. Let that be a lesson to
ya....
> Do you have any references about the desirability
> or otherwise of this type of warning?
No, but it brings topics to mind, especially things peripheral to the
topic of "risk." For your question about warning types, one might look
into topics around the 'perception of risk,' and factors that influence
the perception of risk. Such topics should be all over the place
(semiotics, economics, game theory, decision analysis, policy studies,
motivation and behavior, learning theory, education, ...).
Your public library (or university library) reference desk might have
someone on staff who would research it for you. They're free of charge.
(But I'm sending you a bill).
BTW, I think you're on a right track when you contrast the prominence of
the "Don't" and "Do" messages. You can't get someone to do the right
thing by telling them what not to do, except as a matter of
intervention, but you can use "Don't" to establish authority if you can
attach consequences to it.
On the other hand, _learning_ thrives on _positive reinforcement_. Those
three words are all you need for searching out reams and bushels of
information on that subject.
> A recent study by the IBM Internet Security Systems
> X-Force found that in 2007, 19 of the top 20 companies
> that were the supposed senders of phishing emails
> were in the banking industry.
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