Platform-based mechanisms, institutional trust, and continuous use intention: The moderating role of perceived effectiveness of sharing economy institutional mechanisms

Trust plays an essential role in the sharing economy (SE), which has dramatically changed many industries, including tourism, hospitality, and transportation. As interpersonal trust is difficult to develop in the SE, this study focuses on a specific type of institutional trust at the platform level, namely trust in the platform and its role in shaping clients’ continuous use. Drawing on institutional theory, this study examines two constructs, i.e., the perceived effectiveness of the platform-based institutional structure (PEPIS), the perceived effectiveness of the SE institutional mechanisms (PESEIM), and their roles in trust in the platform and continuous use intention. A model is proposed to depict how trust in the platform is formed and operates under the boundary condition of PESEIM. Our findings suggest that PEPIS has a positive impact on trust in the platform, which leads to continuous use intention, and PESEIM negatively moderates the relationship between PEPIS and trust in the platform and the relationship between trust in the platform and continuous use intention.