Modelling cybersecurity awareness, perceived threats and secure online behavioral intentions among Ghanaian university students: A PLS-SEM Approach

This study examines the interplay between cybersecurity awareness, perceived threats, and behavioral intentions to adopt secure online practices among Ghanaian university students by integrating the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), we analyzed survey data from 181 students with prior cybersecurity knowledge. This study used validated scales on cybersecurity awareness, perceived threats, and behavioral intentions to adopt secure online practices. The results confirm that cybersecurity awareness significantly enhances perceived threats and directly influences behavioral intentions. Perceived threats also strongly predict protective intentions. This study advances cybersecurity literature by empirically validating TPB-PMT integration in an understudied, resource-constrained setting. It highlights the primacy of threat appraisal in motivating secure behaviors among Ghanaian students and underscores the need for contextually tailored interventions.