Publication
Perceptions of Online Financial Services: An Assessment of Usefulness, Ease of Use, Risk, and Trust
| datacite.subject.fos | Engenharia e Tecnologia | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 04:Educação de Qualidade | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Carvalho, Amélia Oliveira | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Borges, Ana Isabel Coelho | |
| dc.contributor.author | Morais, Ângela Eduarda Castro | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-12T16:13:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-12T16:13:54Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.date.submitted | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The contemporary financial services sector is undergoing a profound digital transformation, yet the success of Online Financial Services (OFS) is fundamentally contingent on user acceptance. Adoption remains uneven, hindered by complex perceptual barriers, including security concerns and gaps in financial literacy. Traditional adoption literature, often reliant on aggregate models like the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), frequently commits the average user fallacy, obscuring the distinct perceptual profiles that exist within the population. Furthermore, the precise nature of the ”Digital Divide” remains contested, whether it is a generational barrier (Age) or a socio-economic one (Education and Income). This dissertation addresses these gaps through a quantitative, descriptive-analytic study. Employing a cross-sectional survey (N = 225), this research integrates theories of TAM, UTAUT, and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) with the critical, domain-specific constructs of Perceived Risk and Trust. The analysis is conducted in three phases: (1) a correlational analysis to map the perceptual structure, (2) non-parametric group comparisons to examine demographic divides, and (3) a ”person-centric” hierarchical cluster analysis to identify latent user profiles. The results yield three key findings. First, Perceived Risk is found to be statistically ”decoupled” from the core ”Adoption Core” (Usefulness, Ease of Use), suggesting it operates as a separate, latent factor for existing users. Second, the analysis confirms the existence of two distinct divides: a ”Grey Digital Divide,” where Age primarily impacts Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), and a more powerful ”Literacy Divide,” where Education and Income significantly predict Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Facilitating Conditions. Third, the cluster analysis challenges the ”average user” model, identifying three distinct profiles: ”Favorable with Friction” (High PU, but Low PEOU and High Risk), ”Pragmatic Skeptics” (High PEOU, but Low PU and Low Trust), and ”Ease-Oriented & Autonomous” (classic utility-focused users). The study’s primary contribution is the indication that membership in these profiles is significantly predicted by Education, not by Age. This suggests the most significant barrier to inclusive digital finance is shifting from a generational gap to a digital and financial literacy gap. These findings imply that financial institutions should consider abandoning a ”one-size-fits-all” strategy and instead deploy targeted design, trust-building, and value-proposition interventions tailored to these distinct, education-driven user segments. | por |
| dc.identifier.tid | 204125936 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/31478 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Fintech | |
| dc.subject | Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) | |
| dc.subject | Perceived Risk | |
| dc.subject | Trust | |
| dc.subject | Cluster Analysis | |
| dc.title | Perceptions of Online Financial Services: An Assessment of Usefulness, Ease of Use, Risk, and Trust | por |
| dc.type | master thesis | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| thesis.degree.name | Mestrado em Gestão e Decisão Industrial |