What makes you trust digital data wallets? Antecedents of trust formation

Purpose Digital data wallets are emerging privacy-enhancing technologies that give users greater control over their personal information, yet trust remains a major barrier to adoption. This study aims to identify the factors shaping trust and how perceived risks moderate these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Using a mixed-methods approach, thirty qualitative interviews conducted in Austria, Romania and Spain identified four key antecedents of trust: trust in the Internet, trust in the community of internet users, trust in the provider and trust in the information system. A follow-up survey of 1,200 respondents tested the impact of these antecedents and the moderating role of perceived risks (identity theft and financial loss) on trust formation. Findings Results show that all antecedents, specifically performance expectancy, transparency, social influence and safety, significantly related to their respective trust targets, and that trust relationships are interdependent across targets. Risk perceptions strengthen the influence of performance expectancy and social influence but weaken the effect of transparency. Originality/value The study contributes to research on trust in digital data wallets by empirically applying and extending the application network-of-trust model to the context of decentralized personal data management. The findings demonstrate that the trust formation is differentiated across multiple trust targets and shaped by context-specific antecedents and perceived risks. The study also provides actionable insights for designers and policymakers seeking to build trustworthy digital data wallets.