New Phone, Who Dis? Modeling Millennials' Backup Behavior

摘要

4.1-4.14%Given the ever-rising frequency of malware attacks and other problems leading people to lose their files, backups are an important proactive protective behavior in which users can engage. Backing up files can prevent emotional and financial losses and improve overall user experience. Yet, we find that less than half of young adults perform mobile or computer backups regularly. To understand why, we model the factors that drive mobile and computer backup behavior, and changes in that behavior over time, using data from a panel survey of 384 diverse young adults. We develop a set of models that explain 37% and 38% of the variance in reported mobile and computer backup behaviors, respectively. These models show consistent relationships between Internet skills and backup frequency on both mobile and computer devices. We find that this relationship holds longitudinally: increases in Internet skills lead to increased frequency of computer backups. This article provides a foundation for understanding what drives young adults' backup behavior. It concludes with recommendations for motivating people to back up, and for future work, modeling similar user behaviors.