Contextual Factors as Moderators of Demographic Effects on Phishing Victimization

Phishing is a type of serious cybersecurity threat. Increasing effort has been made for understanding the determinants of phishing susceptibility, yet existing findings remain inconsistent when it comes to the effects of demographic factors. Moreover, phishing victimization is a related but distinct concept from phishing susceptibility. Studies have identified contextual factors in responding to phishing attacks. However, these contextual factors are ad hoc and do not address the development of theories. There is a scarcity of empirical research examining how contextual factors influence the determinants of phishing victimization. The study addresses these gaps by investigating the moderating effect of three contextual factors on the demographic determinants of phishing victimization. We develop hypotheses by drawing on theories from multiple disciplines and test them with real-world phishing data collected over an 18-month period. Our results not only support most of the hypotheses but also help explain the inconsistencies found in existing literature. The findings contribute to advancing phishing prevention and detection measures.