Determinants of Consumers’ Digital Trust as Drivers of the Digital Economy: Results of a Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis

Eduard O. Tunkevichus

National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

Abstract

Consumer trust is one of the most important factors in the development of online services and the digital economy. Although there are many research papers devoted to the study of consumer trust, their results may depend on the industry and cultural context, as well as methodological limitations. The empirical studies assess the presence or absence of a relationship between trust and its determinants but fail to capture the wide range of factors that influence trust. A systematic literature review and content analysis may identify more determinants of consumers’ digital trust than empirical research, but this approach will not allow us to draw conclusions about the significance of the influence and combine the results of empirical studies. The limitations of the methods make it difficult to form a holistic view of the determinants of consumer trust. These limitations can be overcome by using the meta-analysis method, which allows us to combine the results of published empirical papers and statistically test the relationships between variables. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify and categorize the key factors that influence the trust of users of online services, and to assess the degree of their influence on trust. The analysis includes scientific articles from Q1-Q4 publications and leading Russian journals, as well as materials of significant scientific conferences. The selection includes studies using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The analysis covers 62 empirical studies with an aggregate sample of ~24,000 respondents. The study identifies the main determinants of consumer trust and categorizes them according to the levels of consumer perception. The scientific novelty of the paper lies in the systematization of the results of empirical studies and the development of a two-level classification of digital trust factors. The results obtained can serve as a basis for further research on digital trust in Russia. The practical significance lies in the development of a structured understanding of the factors that contribute to the development of trusting relationships between consumers and companies.

Keywords

digital trust; consumer; determinants of trust; SEM; systematic literature review; meta-analysis

JEL classification

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Acknowledgements

The study was implemented in the framework of the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University) in 2025.

About Authors

Eduard Olegovich Tunkevichus

Teacher, Department of Marketing, Graduate School of Business, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia (101000, Moscow, Myasnitskaya street, 20); ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1110-9840 e-mail: eotunkevichus@hse.ru

For citation

Tunkevichus, E.O. (2025). Determinants of Consumers’ Digital Trust as Drivers of the Digital Economy: Results of a Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Economic Research, Vol. 24, No. 2, 714-746. https://doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2025.24.2.024

Article info

Received January 5, 2025; Revised March 7, 2025; Accepted March 24, 2025.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2025.24.2.024

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