Trust, Risk and Perceived Usefulness in Consumer Acceptance of Online Health Services

The Web is developing into an important health information dissemination channel. Benefits cannot however materialize without consumer acceptance. This study developed a research model of the effects of trust, perceived risk and perceived usefulness on consumer acceptance of online health information services. Trust was modeled as a higher-order construct reflected by trust in the online information provider, the website interface, and the institutional structures of the Internet. We collected data from a sample of 161 university students in South Africa. Only 30% of respondents indicated strong future usage intentions. Our multi-dimensional trust construct was found to have both direct and indirect effects, via perceived usefulness, on consumer acceptance. Perceived risk was not found to have a significant influence on consumer acceptance. Results have helped us identify the relative salience of trust, risk and usefulness perceptions in consumer acceptance of online health information services and have important implications for practice