Abstract

P2P lending is an innovation of micro-financial operation pattern, which is mainly used to meet the petty loan and investment demands of small and micro businesses and individuals. Given the rapid development of P2P market, there is a pressing need to understand lenders’ initial investment intentions in P2P platform. Although there are some studies exploring the factors explaining P2P lenders’ investment intentions, none of research has been reported from the perspective of the platform. This study extended technology acceptance model with perceived risk and initial trust as a theoretical framework to examine the roles of individual factors and platform factors in determining P2P lenders’ initial investment intentions. This study suggests that risk appetite, trust propensity, perceived ease of use, perceived security assurance, perceived privacy protection, perceived reputation, third-party certification, perceived risk and initial trust together provide a strong explanation for initial investment intention in P2P lending. The finding of this research provided a theoretical foundation for future academic studies as well as practical guidance for rapid development of P2P platform.

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