What factors build user trust in human–technology relationships? An exploratory meta-analysis of the key antecedents to trust in IT artifacts

Abstract

In response to various calls for more research extending our understanding of trust in IT artifacts, we synthesize the empirical evidence of prior studies in the rich stream of trust-related research to gain a more consistent picture regarding the role of trust antecedents in human–technology relationships. We conduct an exploratory meta-analysis of 374 primary studies reported in 348 articles covering 26 years of trust research to gain deeper insights into the role of the antecedents to trust in IT artifacts. Our research framework combines 19 independent variables conceptualizing human- and system-like trusting beliefs, technology acceptance factors, system characteristics, user characteristics and contextual factors with perceived risk, trusting intention and trusting behavior as the dependent variables. The findings confirm the pervasive role of the human- and system-like trusting beliefs ability/competence, benevolence, reliability and helpfulness as well as the technology acceptance factors perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness in building trust and fostering trusting behavior. In addition, the findings indicate the importance of the system characteristics security and privacy in forming trust and helping users overcome the perceived degree of uncertainty on the way to fostering behavioral and continuous intention. Based on the findings, we discuss the implications for research and practice, propose design recommendations for increasing trust in IT artifacts and provide future research avenues to explore. Considering that trust significantly influences IT adoption, our study's integrated perspective on trust is crucial for deepening our understanding of key factors in fostering trust between humans and technology.