What influence users’ e-finance continuance intention? The moderating role of trust
| Pages | 1647-1670 |
| Published date | 10 September 2018 |
| Date | 10 September 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-12-2017-0602 |
| Author | Wangyue Zhou,Zayyad Tsiga,Boying Li,Shuning Zheng,Shuli Jiang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
What influence users’e-finance
continuance intention? The
moderating role of trust
Wangyue Zhou
School of Business Administration, Zhejiang Gongshang University,
Hangzhou, China and
School of Foreign Language,
Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, China
Zayyad Tsiga, Boying Li and Shuning Zheng
Nottingham University Business School,
University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, and
Shuli Jiang
School of Public Administration,
Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics, Hangzhou, China
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents of e-finance continuance intention with
Alibaba’sYu’E Bao as an example.
Design/methodology/approach –An onlinequestionnaire was usedto collect the data (n¼293), andpartial
least squares structural equation modeling was employedfor data analysis. Four e-finance features(perceived
reputation,website quality, e-financefamiliarity and situationalnormality) are introducedwith trust acting asa
moderator between t he users’satisfaction and continuance intention to use an e-finance platform.
Findings –The results find that website quality, familiarity and situational normality can influence
perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). PEOU and PU, together with reputation, are
positively associated with confirmation which further leads to satisfaction. The positive effects that
satisfaction and trust have on e-finance continuance intention are confirmed, and trust is found to be a
significant moderator on the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention.
Practical implications –The findings can be used to guide e-finance providers to improve their platform
design and services to retain users.
Originality/value –This study combines the theory of trust, Technology Acceptance Model and
Expectations Confirmation Theory to investigate the factors that influence the continuance intention in the
context of e-finance in China.
Keywords Satisfaction, Trust, Technology Acceptance Model, Continuance intention, E-finance,
Expectations Confirmation Theory
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Over the last few years, internet technologies have dramatically transformed financial
industries, giving rise to e-finance. E-finance is the provision of financial services and
markets via the internet (Claessens et al., 2002). For example, in the brokerage market, it is
now common for customers to trade online; bank customers are also able to conduct
banking activities electronically. The internet allows users to have access to financial
services without temporal and spatial constraints. With advancements in mobile, cloud and
big data technologies, e-finance will continue to grow and penetrate to different areas of the
financial industry in the future. However, because of the huge market potential, new entries
from financial and non-financial entities have intensified the competition in e-finance, and
users can easily switch to other e-finance platforms. Therefore, user retention is a crucial
issue for e-finance providers to stay competitive.
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 118 No. 8, 2018
pp. 1647-1670
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-12-2017-0602
Received 29 December 2017
Revised 24 February 2018
Accepted 4 March 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
1647
E-finance
continuance
intention
Previous literature has covered extensively user’s continuance and customer retention in
information technology adoption and e-commerce (Chiu et al., 2009, 2014; Lin and
Lekhawipat, 2014); yet limited attention has been paid to the context of e-finance. E-finance
heavily relies on information technology platforms; thus, the use of e-finance services can be
similar to the adoption of related technology. Meanwhile, the consumption of e-finance
services involves online transaction, and thus is closely related to e-commerce. Sharing the
characteristics of information technology, e-commerce product and financial services,
e-finance is a unique phenomenon where the factors that influence its users’continuance
intention remain unclear. Therefore, this study aims to understand what factors influence
users’continuance intention of an e-finance platform.
Previous literature has referred to Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in explaining
user’s adoption of information technology and has used Expectations Confirmation Theory
(ECT) to explainconsumer’s repurchase ine-commerce (Gefen et al., 2003; Benbasat and Barki,
2007; Brown et al., 2014; Bhattacherjee, 2001). However, few studies have explored their
combined effects in shaping user’s continuance intention. Considering that e-finance
incorporates the characteristics of information technology and e-commerce product, it is
necessary to combine both theories. Moreover, trustworthiness is a crucial element for
financial services, especially for e-finance which involves internet-related technologies.
Although existingworks have studied trust and its effects on consumer repurchase intention
(i.e. Gefen, 2000;Kim and Benbasat, 2010; Fang et al.,2014), there is no literature to date which
examines the role of trust in retaining customers’continued usage of an e-finance platform.
To better understanduser retention in e-finance,this study integrates TAM,ECT and trust as
the theoretical foundation and investigates the factors that influence users’continuance
intention of e-finance platforms. Because e-finance is a novel information technology, users’
perception on e-finance platform features tends to depend on the technology itself and users’
experiences with other technologies. Thus, this study adds website quality, familiarity and
situational normality as antecedents of TAM. Moreover, e-finance platforms can also be
considered as e-commerce vendors, and therefore reputation is of great importance. The
reputation of e-finance platform also reflects users’perception on platform features, and this
study uses reputationto represent users’expectation on the platform. Specifically, this study
uses Yu’E Bao as a typical example of e-finance platforms. Yu’E Bao allows customers to
invest their idlebalance in the money market fund witha minimum investment of RMB1 and
no time restrictions or maturity regulations forfund redemption. Since its launchin June 2013,
Yu’E Bao enjoyed a hugesurge in popularity in China, and by March 2014 it has accumulated
more than RMB400bn of assets, making up approximately more than 30 percent of the total
money market fund assets in China (Cheng, 2014).
This study has the following contributions. First, it proposes and empirically tests the
proposed antecedents of continuance intention in the context of e-finance in China. Second,
this study incorporates the features of e-finance with TAM and ECT, respectively. While
website quality, familiarity and situational normality are found to have significant effects on
perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU), reputation is confirmed to
influence confirmation. Moreover, our study combines TAM and ECT and finds that PEOU
and PU are positively associated with the level of confirmation. Furthermore, we integrate
trust in ECT and confirm trust as a significant moderator in the relationship between
satisfaction and continuance intention. Practically, this study provides useful insights that
can assist e-finance providers to design and manage their platforms to retain users.
2. Theoretical frameworks
2.1 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
TAM, developed by Davis (1989), is one of the most widely accepted theoretical models in
the information systems (IS) literature. It is based on the expectancy-value theory and the
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