Multidimensional model for digital trust of digital services users: results of the empirical research

The paper addresses the development of a multidimensional model of consumer trust of online services users, including such dimensions as trust in the effectiveness of regulatory activities of the state, consumer trust in online services, interpersonal trust, and predisposition to trust. Consumer trust studies in Russia are conducted primarily either in an offline context, or with an emphasis on only one of the dimensions of trust, at the same time Russian studies are mainly conceptual. The presented study is the first in Russia conducted using empirical tools and analyzing consumer trust as a multidimensional construct in an online context. The object of the empirical study is the users of online services – representatives of generations Y and Z, with the sample of the pilot study of 388 respondents, the Structural Equation Modeling method (PLS–SEM) used for analysis. The study reveals a significant influence of the predisposition to trust and the perceived effectiveness of the regulatory activities of the state on interpersonal trust. A significant positive influence of trust predisposition on the trust in online service is also confirmed, but no significant influence of the perceived effectiveness of the regulatory activity of the state on the trust in the online service was found. The study reveals a significant influence of interpersonal trust on trust in online services and the influence of trust in online services on consumers’ intention to use the service. The present effects of mediation and moderation are tested in the model. The presented research is relevant not only from a theoretical point of view, but also from a practical one, since the developed model allows us to identify the factors that form consumer trust in the online service. The findings demonstrate the perceived characteristics of the company which form consumer trust, and the factors that can reduce the negative impact of consumer distrust on the intention to use the service.

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