An investigation of the consumer’s trusting mechanism in emerging healthcare technology

The purpose of this research is to investigate how the consumer’s trusting mechanism influences their behavioral adoption intention in the context of genetic testing.

Based on the technology acceptance theory and trust formation theory, the research posits and develops a comprehensive trust model by integrating trust-related factors that correlate to the consumer’s trusting beliefs and trusting intention. Survey data with 525 respondents allow to test and validate the model.

The tested model shows that technology institutional trust base, end-user’s cognitive trust base and social influence are significant determinants of trusting beliefs. The findings also reveal that mediation effects of performance expectancy and perceived risks exist in the relationship between trusting beliefs and trusting intention.

The foreseeable positive impact and rapid market growth of emerging healthcare technologies necessitate the strong need to study user acceptance. However, there is a lack of research on how consumers trust and their adoption intention of such innovations. Prior empirical evidence from different contexts and perspectives also show contradictory findings. This research extends the existing technology acceptance literature to a healthcare context, provides an improved generalized understanding of the consumer’s trusting mechanism in emerging biotechnology and discusses practical insights for regulatory authorities, healthcare institutes and medical professionals.