(The) effect of trust and perceived risk on users’ acceptance of ICT services

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, I explore the precise impact of trust and perceived risk on the core constructs of UTAUT and thereby expand the model, building upon the previous studies which are limited to proposing conceptual frameworks or validating only certain aspects of their casual relationships. Second, I apply UTAUT model to the novel ICT service context of CeDA service, which is different from the common application of UTAUT. In order to provide theoretical foundations to achieve the objectives, I investigate the theoretical accomplishments of UTAUT. CeDA (Certified electronic Document Authorities) service in Korea was chosen to be the study application area. Because it well reflects the features of trust and perceived risk: CeDA acts as a trusted third party (TTP) and Korean enterprises are reported to have their high perceptions to risks that they might encounter. CeDA is a TTP that securely deposit electronic documents (including scanned paper) having legal effect, and verify contents of documents or transmission. My results are as follows. First, trust and perceived risk were shown to be direct antecedents of intention to use in UTAUT, while trust functions as an indirect antecedent through perceived risk, performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Performance expectancy and social influence were shown to positively affect behavioral intention to use. Effort expectancy was not shown to positively affect behavioral intention to use. Effort expectancy was also shown to significantly influence performance expectancy. Second, the combination of trust, perceived risk, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence accounted for 55.3 percent of the variances observed in users’ intention to use CeDA service. This study contributes to the precise exploration on how trust and perceived risk act on the core constructs of UTAUT. It deepens the understanding on their relationships and bridges the gap between conceptual fra...