What makes consumers trust and adopt fintech? An empirical investigation in China

Building upon the information systems success model (ISSM) and the theory of reasoned action (TRA), we suggest a set of hypotheses related to fintech services consumer adoption, and we use survey data from a sample of consumers in China’s fintech industries to test this framework. We demonstrate three main dimensions of quality in the context of fintech services—i.e., system, information, and service quality—and we find that both consumers’ perceived security and privacy are positively related to consumers’ trust in such services, which in turn encourages the formation of both positive attitudes toward those fintech services and intentions to use. This study sheds new light into fintech services by indicating that, to fully understand the relationships between improving the quality of fintech service, user security and privacy protection, and consumers’ behavioral attitudes and intentions, managers in fintech firms must actively assess the extent to which consumers trust their fintech services, and they must also be able to deal with the challenges posed by consumers’ behavioral uncertainty by implementing an effective trust-enhanced strategy. Through the integration of ISSM and TRA, our findings contribute to an emerging stream of fintech research and extend the literature on trust by providing novel evidence that building strong trust-based relationships with consumers can be particularly beneficial to fintech firms when they want to create positive attitudes in the minds of consumers and thus motivate them to adopt the services.