The Influence of Perceived Trust, Perceived Value, Perceived Usefulness, and Perceived Risk on College Students' Initial Willingness to Pay for Online Knowledge

Abstract

The market size of online knowledge payment continues to expand, yet the proportion of users who persistently engage in knowledge payment is continuously decreasing, which significantly hinders the development of online knowledge payment platforms. This study examines the factors influencing users' initial willingness to pay for online knowledge based on the theory of perceived value and the technology acceptance model by integrating the payment contexts, and influential factors related to online knowledge payment intention. This study employed convenience sampling to select 412 students from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China, as participants. PLS-SEM analysis reveals that perceived usefulness, perceived value, and perceived trust positively influence initial willingness to pay for online knowledge, while perceived risk has a negative impact. Perceived trust and perceived value act as complementary mediators in the relationship between perceived risk, perceived usefulness, and initial payment intention. The findings contribute to understanding users' initial knowledge payment decisions and offer practical implications for knowledge payment platform users, producers, and service providers. These insights can help improve user experience, satisfaction, and promote sustainable development through effective marketing strategies and service models.