The role of inter-channel trust transfer in establishing mobile commerce trust

Mobile brokerage services represent an emerging application of mobile commerce in the brokerage industry. Compared with telephone-based trading services and online brokerage services, they have advantages such as ubiquity, convenience, and privacy. However, the number of investors using mobile brokerage services to conduct brokerage transactions is far smaller than those using other trading methods. A plausible reason for this is that investors lack initial trust in mobile brokerage services, which affects their acceptance of them. This research examines trust transfer as a means of establishing initial trust in mobile brokerage services. We analyze how an investor’s trust in the online brokerage services of a brokerage firm affects her cognitive beliefs about the mobile brokerage services of the firm and what other key factors influence the formation of initial trust in mobile brokerage services. We develop and empirically test a theoretical model of trust transfer from the online to the mobile channels. Our results indicate that trust in online brokerage services not only has a direct effect on initial trust but also has an indirect effect through other variables. This study provides useful suggestions and implications for academics and practitioners.