Research On The Influence Of Consumer Perception On The Intention To Use Financial Technology

In recent years,fintech has received increasing attention from both the theoretical and practical communities,especially in China,where fintech has experienced rapid development.Fintech combines innovative business models and technologies to achieve and enhance financial services.Previous studies have shown that financial technology in Pakistan has improved in recent years,but there is still a significant gap compared to China.Therefore,as a Pakistani international student studying in China,this study aims to explore the factors that influence the use of financial technology by Pakistani consumers and draw on China’s practical experience to propose measures to promote the application of financial technology in Pakistan.This study starts from the perspective of consumer perception,based on the perceived risk theory,innovation diffusion theory,transaction cost economics theory,technology acceptance model,and social network theory,and examines the impact of consumer perceived risk,perceived transaction cost,perceived trust,and their antecedents on the intention to use financial technology.Additionally,the study explores the moderating effects of the pandemic and impending policy,as well as the contextual factors of the environmental and physical surroundings,based on the Beck theory.Based on an online questionnaire survey,this study collected information from participants living in various cities in Pakistan and obtained data on perceived risk,perceived transaction cost,and perceived trust.A structural equation model was built,and Smart PLS software was used to conduct factor analysis and regression analysis to clarify the relationship between factors and variables and determine the path coefficients between core variables.First,this study explored and examined the impact of perceived risk and its antecedents on consumers’ intention to use fintech.The study found that,for the antecedent factors of perceived risk,time risk has the most obvious impact on perceived risk,followed by financial risk,security risk,social risk,and performance risk.Perceived risk has a negative impact on consumers’ intention to use fintech.For situational factors,the pandemic and impending policy,as well as environmental and physical surroundings,have played a significant negative moderating role in perceived risk and "intention to use."Second,this study explored and examined the impact of perceived transaction cost and its antecedents on consumers’ intention to use fintech.The study finds that perceived transaction costs are affected by five antecedent factors,and the impact of uncertainty on perceived transaction costs is the most obvious,followed by asset specificity,complexity,convenience,and dependability.Perceived transaction costs have a negative impact on consumers’ intention to use fintech,reducing consumers’ intentions for online buying or availing services.For situational factors,the pandemic and impending policy,as well as environmental and physical surroundings,have played a significant negative moderating role in perceived transaction cost and "intention to use."Finally,this research explores and examines the impact of perceived trust and its antecedents on consumers’ intention to use fintech.The study found that perceived trust is affected by five antecedent factors,and perceived structural assurance has the most obvious impact on perceived trust,followed by trust propensity,perceived benefit,perceived ease of use,and interaction with online customers.Perceived trust positively impacts consumers’ intention to use financial technology;the higher their perceived trust,the stronger their intention to use it.Additionally,the pandemic and impending policy played a positive moderating role,whereas environmental and physical surroundings’ moderation occurred significantly but played a negative role.The innovations of this study are as follows:(1)The existing research explores factors influencing consumers’ intention to use financial technology,but there is a lack of research on factors such as perceived risk,perceived transaction cost,and perceived trust.This study considers three factors simultaneously and comprehensively examines the influence of consumers’ perception on the intention to use fintech in Pakistan,which enriches the research on the factors affecting the intention to use fintech.(2)Most existing studies have primarily explored the relationship between individual perception factors and the intentions to use financial technology.They often take perceived risk,perceived transaction cost,and perceived trust as the starting point of their research.However,this study goes beyond by considering the antecedents of consumer perception,thus elucidating the logical framework of "antecedent variables-consumer perception-intention to use financial technology."(3)Based on Belk’s theory,two situational factors,pandemic and impending policy,environmental and physical surroundings,were introduced to explore the moderating effect of situational factors and clarified the boundary conditions of the relationship between perceived risk,perceived transaction cost,perceived trust,and consumers’ intention to use financial technology.In practice,this study has important guiding significance for fintech service providers in Pakistan such as fintech companies,e-commerce companies,managers,and regulators to understand consumers’ intentions to use fintech accurately.At the same time,this study provided an experience for financial technology service providers in Pakistan to seek strategies to reduce perceived risks,reduce perceived transaction costs,and build perceived trust to stimulate potential consumers’ trust in better services.