cultural studies literature review

Cultural Studies: Literature review

Searching & reviewing the literature.

• Literature Review
• Search Strategy
• Database searching

A literature review is an evaluation of relevant literature on a topic and is usually the starting point for any undergraduate essay or postgraduate thesis. The focus for a literature review is on scholarly published materials such as books, journal articles and reports.

A search and review of relevant sources may be extensive and form part of a thesis or research project. Postgraduate researchers will normally focus on primary sources such as research studies in journals.

A literature review also provides evidence for an undergraduate assignment. Students new to a discipline may find that starting with an overview or review of relevant research in books and journals, the easiest way to begin researching a topic and obtaining the necessary background information.

Source materials can be categorised as:

Primary source : Original research from journals articles or conference papers, original materials such as historical documents, or creative works.

Secondary source : Evaluations, reviews or syntheses of original work. e.g. review articles in journals.

Tertiary source : Broadly scoped material put together usually from secondary sources to provide an overview, e.g. a book.

The Literature Review Structure : Like a standard academic essay, a literature review is made up of three key components: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Most literature reviews can follow the following format: • Introduction: Introduce the topic/problem and the context within which it is found. • Body: Examine past research in the area highlighting methodological and/or theoretical developments, areas of agreement, contentious areas, important studies and so forth. Keep the focus on your area of interest and identify gaps in the research that your research/investigation will attempt to fill. State clearly how your work builds on or responds to earlier work. • Conclusion: Summarise what has emerged from the review of literature and reiterate conclusions.

This information has been adapted from the Edith Cowan University Literature review: Academic tip sheet .

Steps in searching and reviewing the literature:

• Define the topic and scope of the assignment. Ensure you understand the question and expectations of the assignment. It's useful to develop a plan and outline, headings, etc.  
• Check terminology. e.g. dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses  
• Identify keywords for searching (include English and American spelling and terminology)  
• Identify types of publications. e.g. books, journal articles, reports.  
• Search relevant databases (refer to the relevant subject guide for key databases and sources)  
• Select and evaluate relevant sources Evaluating information sources including books, journal articles and web publications  
• Synthesize the information  
• Write the review following the structure outlined.  
• Save references used. e.g. from the databases save, email, print or download references to EndNote.  
• Reference sources (APA 7th) (see Referencing Library Guide )

When you are writing for an academic purpose such as an essay for an assignment, you need to find evidence to support your ideas. The library is a good place to begin your search for the evidence, as it acquires books and journals to support the disciplines within the University. The following outlines a list of steps to follow when starting to write an academic assignment:

Define your topic and scope of the search

• This will provide the search terms when gathering evidence from the literature to support your arguments.
• Sometimes it is a good idea to concept map key themes.

The scope will advise you:

• How much information is required, often identified by the number of words ie 500 or 3000 words
• What sort of writing is required. e.g.  essay, report, annotated bibliography
• How many marks are assigned. This may indicate the amount of time to allocate to the task.

Gather the information - Before writing about your topic, you will need to find evidence to support your ideas. 

Books provide a useful starting point for an introduction to the subject. Books also provide an in-depth coverage of a topic.

Journal Articles: For current research or information on a very specific topic, journal articles may be the most useful, as they are published on a regular basis. It is normally expected that you will use some journal articles in your assignment. When using journal articles, check whether they are from a magazine or scholalry publication. Scholarly publications are often peer reviewed, which means that the articles are reviewed by expert/s before being accepted for publication.

Reports : useful information can also be found in free web publications from government or research organizations (e.g. reports). Any web publications should be carefully evaluated. You are also required to view the whole publication, not just the abstract, if using the information in your assignment.

Remember to ensure that you note the citation details for references that you collect, at the time of locating the items. It is often time consuming and impossible to track the required data later.

Analyse the information collected

• Have I collected enough information on the topic?

Synthesize your information

Write the report or essay

• Check the ECU Academic tip sheet: the Academic Essay for some useful pointers
• Remember, in most cases you will need an introduction, body and conclusion
• Record details of references used for referencing. Information on referencing can be located on the ECU Referencing Guide .

Database search tips:

1. Identify main concepts and keywords . Search the main concepts first, then limit further as necessary.

2. Find Synonyms (Boolean  OR broadens the search to include alternative keywords or subject thesaurus terms):

• pediatrics  OR children
• teenagers  OR adolescents

3. AND (Boolean AND  joins concepts and narrows the                search):

• occupational therapy  AND children
• stress  AND (occupation OR job)

4. Be aware of differences in American and English spelling and terminology. Most databases use American spelling and terminology as preferred subject terms.

5. Use Truncation (putting * at the end of a word stem will search all forms of the word):

• disab * (disability, disabilities, disabled)
• child * (child, children, childhood, children's)

6. "...." (inverted commas) use for a phrase

• "mental health"
• "occupational therapy"

7. Wildcard ? will search for any single letter in the space. e.g. wom?n will search women, woman, organi?ation will search organisation, organization.

8. Wildcard * can also be used where alternate spelling may contain an extra character. e.g. p*ediatric, will search paediatric or pediatric, behavio*r, will search behaviour or behavior.

Systematic and other types of reviews

Researchers should refer to the Systematic Reviews guide for information and resources on:

• Conducting systematic reviews
• Types of reviews
• Formulating a question
• Searching for studies
• Grey literature
• Critical appraisal
• Documenting and reporting
• Managing search results
• Librarian consultation
• Search strategy planner
• MEDLINE database guide
• CINAHL database guide
• SPORTDiscus database guide
• Web of Science database guide

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3 (page 43) p. 43 Literature and cultural studies

• Published: July 2011
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‘Literature and cultural studies’ explores a complex relationship. In principle, there need not be conflict between literary and cultural studies. Literary studies is not committed to a conception of the literary object that cultural studies must repudiate. Cultural studies arose as the application of techniques of literary analysis to other cultural materials. It treats cultural artefacts as ‘texts’ to be read rather than as objects that are simply there to be counted. And, conversely, literary studies may gain when literature is studied as a particular cultural practice and works are related to other discourses.

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1. Introduction

Not to be confused with a book review, a  literature review  surveys scholarly articles, books and other sources (e.g. dissertations, conference proceedings) relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, providing a description, summary, and critical evaluation of each work. The purpose is to offer an overview of significant literature published on a topic.

2. Components

Similar to primary research, development of the literature review requires four stages:

• Problem formulation—which topic or field is being examined and what are its component issues?
• Literature search—finding materials relevant to the subject being explored
• Data evaluation—determining which literature makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the topic
• Analysis and interpretation—discussing the findings and conclusions of pertinent literature

Literature reviews should comprise the following elements:

• An overview of the subject, issue or theory under consideration, along with the objectives of the literature review
• Division of works under review into categories (e.g. those in support of a particular position, those against, and those offering alternative theses entirely)
• Explanation of how each work is similar to and how it varies from the others
• Conclusions as to which pieces are best considered in their argument, are most convincing of their opinions, and make the greatest contribution to the understanding and development of their area of research

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  3. Definition and Use/Purpose

A literature review may constitute an essential chapter of a thesis or dissertation, or may be a self-contained review of writings on a subject. In either case, its purpose is to:

• Place each work in the context of its contribution to the understanding of the subject under review
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration
• Identify new ways to interpret, and shed light on any gaps in, previous research
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort
• Point the way forward for further research
• Place one's original work (in the case of theses or dissertations) in the context of existing literature

The literature review itself, however, does not present new  primary  scholarship.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Cultural Studies in the United States

Cultural Studies in the United States

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on November 16, 2020 • ( 0 )

Cultural studies emerged as a distinctive academic discipline in the English-speaking world between the 1960s and the 1990s as part of the broad shift in universities to new kinds of interdisciplinary analysis. Parallel to contemporaneous developments in ethnic studies and women’s studies, programs in cultural studies, which often originated as units of English or communications departments, tended to be institutionalized as centers and institutes rather than as departments. What most readily distinguished cultural studies from mainline literary studies were new and different objects of study and modes of inquiry. In addition, cultural studies both reflected and propounded a cultural politics opposed to the belletrism and formalism characteristic of postwar academic literary studies in the Anglophone world. Typically, adherents of cultural studies conceived themselves—and were conceived by others—as being in opposition to the reigning establishment of university disciplines and values.

Among the objects of study commonly examined in programs of cultural studies were such wildly diverse “discourses” as advertising, art, architecture, urban folklore, movies, fashion, popular literary genres (thrillers, romances, Westerns, science fiction), photography, music, magazines, youth subcultures, student texts, theories of criticism, theater, radio, women’s literature, television, and working-class literature. Against the regnant exclusive focus on aesthetic masterpieces of canonized high literature, advocates of cultural studies characteristically advanced the claims of “low,” popular, and mass cultures. (In this work they followed in the wake of the earlier Frankfurt school scholars and the New York Intellectuals, among others, who pioneered modes of cultural inquiry from the 1930s to the 1960s.) During the postmodern period the arts and activities to be found in the ordinary shopping mall appeared as worthy of serious study and analysis as the artifacts and artworks enthroned in the traditional monumental museum. Potentially, the whole spectrum of cultural objects, practices, and texts constituting a society provided the materials of cultural studies. In the event that belletristic literature was examined from the perspective of cultural studies, the emphasis was invariably put on literature as communal event or document with social, historical, and political roots and ramifications. In short, the work of “literature” was not treated as an autonomous aesthetic icon separable from its conditions of production, distribution, and consumption—quite the contrary.

The modes of inquiry employed in cultural studies included not only established survey techniques, field interviews, textual explications, and researches into sociohistorical backgrounds but also and especially institutional and ideological analyses. For scholars of cultural studies institutional analysis entailed a conception of institutions as productive agencies that both constituted and disseminated knowledge and belief by means of systematic practices and conventions affecting cultural discourses. For example, studies of present-day popular romances examined the practices of publishing companies and bookstores in shaping and maintaining the rules of the romance genre as well as in packaging and promoting ongoing avalanches of “successful” (reproductions of the form. Since institutions overlap, an investigation into one frequently leads to a second. In the case of romance, a scrutiny of the genre’s powerful presence in television soap operas and women’s magazines links together publishers, booksellers, television programmers, and magazine editors. To generalize, networks of institutions play crucial roles in creating, conditioning, and commodifying cultural works. As such, the application of institutional analysis is central to the enterprise of cultural studies.

Whereas institutional analysis is focused on the material means and methods employed by institutions involved in the circulation of cultural objects and texts, ideological analysis is given over to examining the ideas, feelings, beliefs, and representations embodied in and promulgated by the artifacts and practices of a culture. Obviously, institutional and ideological analysis overlap. For instance, Richard Ohmann in English in America (1976) depicted the institution of English studies as a disseminator not only of the skills of analysis, organization, and fluency but of the “attitudes” of detachment, caution, and cooperation, all of which aid the smooth operation of modern capitalist societies. Because the objects, texts, and institutions of a culture create and convey ideology, the use of ideological analysis is fundamental to the work of cultural studies, which invariably seeks to investigate the ideological dimensions and forces of cultural works.

Characteristic of cultural studies in English-speaking universities is a leftist political orientation rooted variously in Marxist, non-Marxist, and post-Marxist socialist intellectual traditions all critical of the aestheticism, formalism, anti-historicism, and apoliticism common among the dominant postwar methods of academic literary criticism. Advocates of cultural studies regularly apply to the analysis of cultural materials insights from contemporary anthropology (esp. ethnography), economics, history, media studies, political theory, and sociology. Not surprisingly, the twin habits of isolating and of monumentalizing the arts and humanities are anathema to adherents of cultural studies. To sacralize is to deracinate and mummify. Cultural studies seeks to analyze and assess the social roots, the institutional relays, and the ideological ramifications of communal events, organizations, and artifacts. Such a project predisposes analysts to intervene actively in arenas of cultural struggle. The conservative role of the traditional intellectual as disinterested connoisseur and custodian of culture is widely regarded as suspect and unworthy by proponents of cultural studies.

The most well-known academic program in cultural studies in Anglophone countries exists at the Centre (lately Department) for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS), which was established at the University of Birmingham in England in 1964 under the directorship of Richard Hoggart. Initially part of the Department of English, the Centre became independent in 1972 during the directorship of Stuart Hall , whose term lasted from 1969 to 1979. Previously, Hall was the inaugural editor of Britain’s New Left Review . It was during the 1970s that over 60 Stencilled Papers and 10 issues of the journal Working Papers in Cultural Studies (founded in 1971) were brought out. This journal was absorbed into a CCCS-Hutchinson Company book series that published in the closing years of the decade the collectively edited Resistance through Rituals: Youth Sub-Cultures in Post-War Britain (1976), On Ideology (1978), Women Take Issue (1978), Working Class Culture (1979), and especially Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-79 (1980), which amounted to a CCCS reader, complete with an introductory account of the Centre by Stuart Hall. At the peak of this pioneering period in the 1970s, the Centre had 5 faculty members and 40 graduate students. By decade’s end other university programs in cultural studies were set up in England, primarily at polytechnical institutes. With the founding in England of the Cultural Studies Association in 1984, the whole contemporary movement toward establishing cultural studies in the academy attained a significant moment of maturation.

Stuart Hall/The New Yorker

During the mid-1980s the then director and longtime member of the Birmingham Centre, Richard Johnson, had occasion to publish in the United States a landmark manifesto, “What Is Cultural Studies Anyway?” which, following Hall, observed that two distinct methodological branches of cultural studies had developed at the Centre. The “culturalist” line, derived from sociology, anthropology, and social history and influenced by the work of RAYMOND WILLIAMS and E. P. Thompson, regarded a culture as a whole way of life and struggle accessible through detailed concrete (empirical) descriptions that captured the unities or homologies of commonplace cultural forms and material life. The “(post)structuralist” line, indebted to linguistics, literary criticism, and semiotic theory and especially attentive to the work of Louis Althusser, Roland Barthes, and Michel Fucault, conceived of cultural forms as semiautonomous inaugurating “discourses” susceptible to rhetorical and/or semiological analyses of cognitive constitutions and ideological effects. While the members of the former group preferred to research, for instance, oral histories, realistic fictions, and working-class texts, seeking to pinpoint and portray private social “experience,” the latter group analyzed avant-garde or literary texts and practices, attempting to uncover underlying constitutive communal codes and conventions of representation. One especially influential American study blending culturalism and poststructuralism was Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978), which depicted the history of Western research on the Near East as a massive disciplinary discourse structuring and dominating the Orient in a consistently racist, sexist, and imperialistic way that bore little relation to actual human experience.

In the United States widespread academic interest in cultural studies flowered particularly during the 1980s and 1990s, primarily among university intellectuals and critics on the left. In addition to pioneering programs being established, new journals appeared, for example, Cultural Critique, Differences, Representations and Social Text . The editors of Cultural Critique , founded in 1985 at the University of Minnesota, declared their representative objects of study to be “received values, institutions, practices, and discourses in terms of their economic, political, social, and aesthetic genealogies, constitutions, and effects” ( Cultural Critique 1 [1985]: 5). Regarding preferred disciplinary modes of inquiry, they singled out a “broad terrain of cultural interpretation that is currently defined by the conjuncture of literary, philosophical, anthropological, and sociological studies, of Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic, and poststructuralist methods” (6). On the advisory board of the journal were leading American and British Marxists, nonsectarian leftists, and feminists. In the North American setting, cultural studies aspired to be a new discipline but served as an unstable meeting point for various interdisciplinary feminists, Marxists, literary and media critics, postmodern theorists, social semioticians, rhetoricians, fine arts specialists, and sociologists and historians of culture.

During the 1980s, one of the more influential American literary proponents of cultural studies was the liberal Robert Scholes, who in Textual Power (1985) argued that “we must stop ‘teaching literature’ and start ‘studying texts.’ Our rebuilt apparatus must be devoted to textual studies…. Our favorite works of literature need not be lost in this new enterprise, but the exclusivity of literature as a category must be discarded. All kinds of texts, visual as well as verbal, polemical as well as seductive, must be taken as the occasions for further textuality. And textual studies must be pushed beyond the discrete boundaries of the page and the book into the institutional practices and social structures” (16-17). Over a period of 10 years, Scholes had moved from an apolitical and belletristic structuralism to an increasingly political “textual” (cultural) studies steeped in (post)structuralist thought, as revealed in his trilogy Structuralism in Literature: An Introduction (1974), Semiotics and Interpretation (1982), and Textual Power (1985). Typical of some other American university intellectuals advocating cultural studies in the 1980s, Robert Scholes evidently had little knowledge of the pioneering work done by the British school in the 1970s.

What most American literary intellectuals in the postVietnam decade knew about British views of cultural studies came mainly from the influential last chapter of Terry Eagleton’s highly popular text Literary Theory (1983) or occasionally from Dick Hebdige’s Subculture: The Meaning of Style (1979) or sometimes from Janet Batsleer and others’ Rewriting English: Cultural Politics of Gender and Class (1985), the latter two of which were works from the CCCS that gained limited notoriety in the United States. Cast in a poststructuralist mode and indebted to the Centre’s earlier Resistance through Rituals , Hebdige’s book, for example, illustrated how the spectacular styles of postwar subcultures of English working-class youths, particularly teddy boys, mods, rockers, skinheads, and punks, challenged obliquely social consensus, normalization, ideology, and hegemony, functioning through displacement as symbolic forms of dissent and resistance. “Style,” in Hebdige’s formulation, consisted of special disruptive combinations of dress, argot, music, and dance, often “adapted” by white youths from marginal black groups such as the Rastafarians and frequently subjected to cooption and mainstreaming by being turned into products for mass markets. As a scholar of cultural studies, Hebdige conceived “style” to be a complex material and aesthetic ensemble rooted in specifiable historical and socioeconomic contexts, possessing demonstrable semiotic values and ideological valences, all potentially subject to diffusion, routinization, and commodification by means of the agencies and institutions of established societies. From the vantage point of cultural studies, the aesthetic and the social, innovation and history, the avant-garde and the lower-class, creative words and common gripes, disco and assembly line, nestled together inseparably and inevitably.

It was not surprising that in the closing years of the 1980s a new journal, Cultural Studies , was launched under the guidance of an international editorial collective with the explicit goal of fostering “developments in the area worldwide, putting academics, researchers, students and practitioners in different countries and from diverse intellectual traditions in touch with each other and each other’s work” (1 [1987]: flyleaf). What this emergent internationalization indicated was the increasing expansion of research interest and commitment among university intellectuals and scholars to the work of cultural studies. At the same time, cultural studies scholars stepped up work on postcolonial cultures, focusing on deracinated subaltern subjects, heterodox traditions, and hybrid regimes scattered across the globe. Near the end of the century the diffusion of cultural studies appeared headed for increasing diversification into multiple branches and modes.

Bibliography Janet Batsleer et al., Rewriting English: Cultural Politics of Gender and Class (1985); Cultural Studies and New Historicism, special issue, Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 24 (1991); Terry Eagleton, “Conclusion: Political Criticism,” Literary Theory: An Introduction (1983); Michel Foucault, La Volonté de savoir (1976, The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction, trans. Robert Hurley, 1978); Henry Giroux et al., “The Need for Cultural Studies: Resisting Intellectuals and Oppositional Public Spheres,” Dalhousie Review 64 (1984); Lawrence Grossberg, “The Circulation of Cultural Studies,” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 6 (1989), “Cultural Studies Revisited and Revised,” Communications in Transition: Issues and Debates in Current Research (ed. Mary S. Mander, 1983), “The Formation of Cultural Studies: An American in Birmingham,” Strategies 2 (1989), “History, Politics, and Postmodernism: Stuart Hall and Cultural Studies,” Journal of Communication Inquiry 10 (1986, special issue on Stuart Hall); Lawrence Grossberg, Carey Nelson, and Paula Treichler, eds., Cultural Studies (1992); Stuart Hall, “Cultural Studies: The Two Paradigms,” Media, Culture, and Society 2 (1980, reprint, Culture, Ideology, and Social Process, ed. Tony Bennett et al., 1981); Stuart Hall et al., Culture, Media, Language: Working Papers in Cultural Studies, 1972-79 (1980); Richard Johnson, “What Is Cultural Studies Anyway?” Social Text 16 (1986-87); Vincent B. Leitch, “Cultural Criticism,” New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (3d ed., ed. Alex Preminger and T. V. F. Brogan, 1993), Cultural Criticism, Literary Theory, Poststructuralism (1992), “Leftist Criticism from the 1960s to the 1980s,” American Literary Criticism from the Thirties to the Eighties (1988); Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, eds., Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture (1988); Richard Ohmann, English in America: A Radical View of the Profession (1976); Jeffrey M. Peck, “Advanced Literary Study as Cultural Study: A Redefinition of the Discipline,” Profession 85 (1985); Edward W. Said, Orientalism (1978); Robert Scholes, Textual Power: Literary Theory and the Teaching of English (1985); Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, In Other Worlds: Essays in Cultural Politics (1987); Graeme Turner, British Cultural Studies: An Introduction (1990); Hayden White, Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism (1978); Raymond Williams, Culture and Society, 1780-1950 (1958). Source: Groden, Michael, and Martin Kreiswirth. The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

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A Literature Review: Alcohol and Its Impact on Creativity in Undergraduate Students

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Abstract: Alcohol seems to have been woven through our culture; in fact, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 49 percent of college students have consumed alcohol in the past month (NSDUH, 2022). Despite more recent interventions and research on the detrimental effects of drinking, alcohol-related consequences still persist in society. One  important aspect to look at in relation to alcohol use is creativity, which is key for problem solving and brainstorming; it is so complex and multifaceted that it is hard to get a concrete measurement. This project presents a holistic review of the differing methods used to measure creativity, and how the usage of alcohol impacts creativity, including across different measurements of creativity. These methods range from looking at the concept of divergent thinking, to looking at the creative process (preparation,incubation,illumination, verification, restitution), and how alcohol inhibits and disinhibits varying parts of the creative process. Preliminary findings suggest that divergent thinking has shown to be minimally affected by alcohol; while the creative process was shown to be inhibited by alcohol at the illumination phase and facilitated at the verification phase. These inconsistent and complex findings from the literature review demonstrate the need for future studies to look at the drinking behavior of college students and how that has impacted their ability to creatively think.  

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User stickiness to facial recognition payment technology: insights from Sako’s trust typology, privacy concerns, and a cross-cultural context

• Jung-Chieh Lee   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7605-6463 1 ,
• Lei Bi 1 &
• Haotian Liu 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1070 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Information systems and information technology
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People remain concerned about using facial recognition payment (FRP) technology because of risks such as biological information and data leakage. Therefore, promoting individuals’ continual use behavior of FRPs is critical for their successful deployment. However, the majority of FRP studies emphasize individuals’ intentions. A discrepancy between intention and actual use may exist, but few or no studies have explored and investigated the factors affecting people’s sustained use behavior. To fill this gap, we use the concept of user stickiness to reflect continuous use behavior and develop a research model by considering the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and Sako’s trust typology (competence, contractual and goodwill trust) and privacy concerns to explain and predict user stickiness to the FRP. We examined this model via partial least squares (PLS) on samples from 1278 users (648 from China and 630 from the USA) with FRP experience. In both countries, competence, contractual, and goodwill trust are positively related to users’ attitudes and perceived behavioral control and negatively related to privacy concerns. Our study also highlights cultural differences in the model, showing the distinct impacts of privacy concerns on user attitudes and FRP stickiness between the Chinese and American samples. This study contributes to the literature by revealing and clarifying the different mechanisms of competence, contractual, and goodwill trust on user stickiness to FRP through the constructs of the TPB and privacy concerns in the context of China and the USA.

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Introduction.

The ongoing development of financial technology (fintech) has spurred innovation in financial services and products, altered traditional financial institutions’ business structures, created new business models, and enhanced the user experience (Lee and Wang, 2023 ). In particular, facial recognition payments (FRPs) are innovative fintech services that can use individuals’ facial topography to complete electronic transactions and are a new type of payment method for goods and services (Li and Li, 2023 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ). Compared with cash payments, facial payments are more convenient and can promote transaction efficiency and improve the consumption experience (Palash et al., 2022 ; Zhang and Kang, 2019 ). Thus, the utilization of FRPs has emerged as a biometric payment solution (Lai and Rau, 2021 ).

Gaining insights into the factors that influence individuals’ continual use of FRPs is of critical practical importance for FRP providers seeking to improve FRPs across society. This knowledge can enable FRP providers to optimize FRPs in accordance with user feedback and develop theoretical guidance and practical countermeasures. The predominant area of investigation in the field of FRP pertains to users’ use intentions (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Hwang et al., 2024 ; Lyu et al., 2023 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Nan et al., 2022 ; Palash et al., 2022 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ; Zhang and Kang, 2019 ; Zhong and Moon, 2022 ; Zhong et al., 2021 ) and continuous use intentions (Gao et al., 2023 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ). However, scholars (e.g., de Mesquita et al., 2023 ; Gao et al., 2023 ; Hassan et al., 2016 ; Sheeran and Webb, 2016 ) have noticed and revealed a mismatch between the intentions of users and their actual usage behaviors, which is referred to as the intention–behavior gap. To date, the literature does not contain any pertinent knowledge or empirical evidence regarding continuous FRP use behaviors. To fill this void, we utilize the notion of user stickiness, which signifies the ongoing usage patterns of users; greater stickiness signifies that users are more likely to opt for FRP as a payment method than alternative pay technologies and employ FRP more frequently in payment situations (Elliot et al., 2013 ; Shen et al., 2022 ). The research question that guides the research is as follows:

Research Question: What factors can affect and determine individuals’ use of stickiness to FRP?

To answer this question, we rely predominantly on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 2020 ) to construct a research model and associated hypotheses to explore and investigate user stickiness to FRP. The TPB is widely recognized as a prominent theory because of its strong predictive and compatibility capabilities for explaining all kinds of user behavior (Ajzen, 2020 ; Albayati et al., 2023 ; Ulker-Demirel and Ciftci, 2020 ). In addition, the TPB has successfully demonstrated its ability to explain and predict people’s fintech use (Belanche et al., 2019 ; Firmansyah et al., 2022 ; Sharif and Naghavi, 2021 ; Tucker et al., 2019 ; Yadav et al., 2015 ). According to Ajzen ( 2020 ), the TPB posits that user behavior is driven primarily by attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and subjective norms. Moreover, researchers have suggested strengthening the explanatory power of the TPB and providing an in-depth understanding of user behavior by increasing the number of additional factors (Ajzen, 2020 ; Li et al., 2021 ; Ma et al., 2023 ; Roos and Hahn, 2019 ).

To further enhance the TPB’s ability to explain and predict user stickiness to the FRP, we consider the concept of trust. Trust is necessary to build a successful long-term relationship between both parties (Li and Li, 2023 ; Yilmaz et al., 2005 ). According to Lee and Chen ( 2022 ), trust emerges as a crucial determinant of fintech use behavior and plays a pivotal role in determining overall success. The extant literature has also demonstrated that the continual use of FRP technologies depends on user trust in the FRP (Hu et al., 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Palash et al., 2022 ), which is why we chose to trust this topic as a research focus in this investigation. In this study, we employ and add Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology to the TPB. Trust was categorized by Sako ( 1992 ) as competence trust, contractual trust or goodwill trust. Therefore, we aim to integrate the TPB and Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology to explore the factors influencing FRP stickiness. Moreover, users’ privacy concerns are crucial in shaping their attitudes and behaviors toward FRP (Liu et al., 2021 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Yang et al., 2023 ; Cheng et al., 2024 ). We also explore and investigate how competence trust, contractual trust, and goodwill trust influence privacy concerns, which in turn affect user attitudes and stickiness toward FRP.

Moreover, understanding the cross-cultural differences that influence FRP use behavior can provide deeper insights (Kostka et al., 2023 ). The reasons we choose China and the USA as subjects for cross-cultural research on user stickiness to FRP technologies are as follows. First, Chinese users generally value convenience and efficiency, leading to greater acceptance and usage of FRP technologies (Kostka et al., 2023 ). In contrast, American users have strong privacy concerns and skepticism toward facial recognition technology and its corporate use, resulting in lower motivation to use FRP technologies (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Second, the regulatory environments in the two countries differ. China supports technological innovation and application, whereas the USA has stricter and more fragmented policies. This difference affects the promotion and acceptance of FRP technology (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Finally, the cultural values of China and the USA differ significantly. China emphasizes collectivism and social order, with users willing to sacrifice some privacy for convenience. The USA emphasizes individualism and privacy rights, with users preferring to protect personal information (Hofstede, 2011 ). These cultural differences may influence users’ continuous behavior in using FRP technology.

In this study, a survey research design was used to collect 1278 valid responses from China and the USA (648 responses from China and 630 responses from the USA). These responses were subsequently analyzed via the partial least squares (PLS) technique to validate the model and test the proposed hypotheses. This study contributes to FRP research by offering more comprehensive insight into the different impacts of trust in terms of competence and contractual and goodwill trust on user stickiness to FRP through the TPB. This study also highlights cultural differences in the context of FRP stickiness, revealing the distinct impacts of privacy concerns on user attitudes and FRP stickiness between Chinese and American samples. In practice, studying the differences in FRP user stickiness between China and the USA can help develop more effective global technology promotion strategies, thereby enhancing the user experience and technology stickiness. The structure of this investigation is as follows: The second section provides a literature review on FRP, user stickiness, trust in FRP and Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology and cross-cultural investigation of FRP stickiness. In the third section, the research model and formulation of hypotheses are detailed. An explanation of the research method utilized in this investigation is provided in the fourth section. A description of the data analysis is given in the fifth section. The results and research contributions are outlined in the sixth section. In conclusion, a summary of the study’s limitations and recommendations for further research are provided.

Literature review

Facial recognition payment (frp) and user stickiness.

Facial recognition payment (FRP) technology is currently experiencing significant growth in various payment situations, including vending machines, hotels, shopping malls, self-service stores, supermarkets, and restaurants (Dang et al., 2021 ; Gao et al., 2023 ). FRP technology extracts human facial features from digital video images via biometric recognition technology and subsequently compares the detected facial data with facial data recorded in a database (Lyu et al., 2023 ). Research on FRP technologies has focused primarily on use intentions (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Hwang et al., 2024 ; Lyu et al., 2023 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Nan et al., 2022 ; Palash et al., 2022 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ; Zhang and Kang, 2019 ; Zhong and Moon, 2022 ; Zhong et al., 2021 ) and continuous use intentions (Gao et al., 2023 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ). Nevertheless, a disparity has been identified between users’ intended and actual usage behavior, as demonstrated by researchers (de Mesquita et al., 2023 ; Hassan et al., 2016 ; Sheeran and Webb, 2016 ). Alternatively, continuous use intention and continuous use behavior are not synonymous.

Stickiness, which signifies the ongoing usage behavior of users (Elliot et al., 2013 ; Shen et al., 2022 ), permits a transition in research focus from intentional to actual behavior. The notion of stickiness initially refers to a website’s capacity to both attract and retain customers (Holland and Baker, 2001 ). When users perceive that a website fulfills their expectations and elicits positive emotions, they are more likely to engage in repeated visits until the point where it becomes habitual (Kim et al., 2015 ). Users frequently exhibit stickiness toward services when they are satisfied with the service content, functions, and overall experience (Kim et al., 2016 ). Stickiness has been extensively examined in scholarly works concerning technology usage (e.g., Cham et al., 2022 ; Lien et al., 2017 ; Teng and Bao, 2022 ; Yin et al., 2021 ). Stickiness to FRP among users can be conceptualized as their propensity to be loyal to and dependent on the service (Kim et al., 2016 ). An increased degree of stickiness signifies that users are inclined to choose FRP for payment rather than the other pay technology and utilize FRP more frequently when conducting transactions (Cham et al., 2022 ). Consequently, in this study, we seek to explore and investigate the factors that increase users’ stickiness to FRP via the TPB and user trust via Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology.

Trust in FRP and Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology

As a technology required to connect to the internet, FRPs inevitably involve biological and facial information risk and leakage of information when people use it (Li and Li, 2023 ). Establishing trust mechanisms can assist individuals in managing uncertainty, including potential hazards that may be intrinsic to FRPs (Moriuchi, 2021 ). Thus, gaining user trust is particularly important for users to have prolonged acceptance and adoption of FRPs (Hu et al., 2023 ; Lai and Rau, 2021 ). The literature has examined how trust affects users’ behavioral patterns in using FRPs from various perspectives, such as initial trust (Palash et al., 2022 ), trust in FRPs (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ), and trust in service providers (Li and Li, 2023 ); however, several scholars have not distinguished the types of trust in the FRP context (Lai and Rau, 2021 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Nan et al., 2022 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ). Among the related literature, only Li and Li’s ( 2023 ) study included trust in FRPs and trust in service providers simultaneously to examine users’ continuous use intentions of FRPs. In brief, previous research on trust in FRP technology has focused predominantly on trust in technology, and limited attention has been given to employing rigorous theoretical trust typology in investigating the distinct mechanisms of trust in users’ continual use behavior of FRP (i.e., user stickiness in this study).

To further understand how trust in FRP stickiness is more comprehensive, we apply Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology. Sako ( 1992 ) classified trust into competence trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust. Specifically, competence trust is defined as the anticipation of one party that the other can execute tasks at a predetermined level of quality (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ). When one party believes that the other will abide by the written or verbal agreements established between them, contractual trust is established (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ). Goodwill trust entails going above and beyond what is formally anticipated, that is, responding to requests in a manner that deviates from the norm and considering the interests of a partner to be one’s own (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ). In the FRP context, consumers have an expectation of competence trust in service experience performance when using FRP. Contractual trust can be attributed to written deeds and promises when using the FRP with service providers’ security guarantees and privacy protection. Goodwill trust reflects that consumers have expectations that FRP technology can provide better friendly service and support than users expect in each payment situation.

Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology is the most well-known and frequently applied typology in earlier research (e.g., Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; He, 2020 ; Liu, 2015 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ). For example, Fatima and Razzaque ( 2014 ) studied the mediating effects of competence and contractual and goodwill trust on the relationships between rapport and customer satisfaction in banking services in a developing country (Bangladesh) and reported that only competence and goodwill trust had significant mediating effects, whereas contractual trust did not. Scholars have noted that user trust is critical to individuals’ adoption intentions or continuous use intentions (Sharma and Sharma, 2019 ). However, how the roles of competence and contractual and goodwill trust distinctly affect user stickiness to FRP technology through the function of the TPB remains unclear and requires further exploration and examination.

Cross-cultural investigation of FRP stickiness

Understanding cultural differences is crucial when examining user behavior, especially in the context of adopting new technologies such as FRP (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Most research on FRP acceptance and usage has been conducted in China (e.g., Gao et al., 2023 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ; Hwang et al., 2024 ), reflecting the advanced acceptance and integration of this technology among Chinese users. However, there is a notable lack of cross-cultural comparative studies examining user stickiness to FRP. One exception is the study by Kostka et al. ( 2023 ), which explores the usage and acceptance of facial recognition technology among users in different countries. This study highlights significant cross-cultural differences and provides valuable insights into the broader implications of FRP technology worldwide.

Research has shown that cultural dimensions significantly influence facial recognition technology usage behavior across China and the USA (Kostka et al., 2023 ). For instance, China, with its high levels of collectivism, prioritizes community benefits and social harmony (Hofstede, 2011 ). This cultural inclination leads to greater acceptance of FRP, as users perceive it as a tool that enhances convenience for the collective good (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Kostka et al. ( 2023 ) also demonstrated that Chinese users are more willing to sacrifice some degree of privacy for the perceived benefits of efficiency provided by FRP. In contrast, individualistic cultures such as those of the USA emphasize personal freedom, privacy, and individual rights (Hofstede, 2011 ). Americans are generally more skeptical of technologies involving extensive data collection and surveillance (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Privacy concerns and fears of misuse of personal data are significant barriers to the adoption of FRP technologies in the USA. Brewer et al. ( 2021 ) reported that American users are less motivated to use FRP technology because of strong privacy concerns and a distrust of corporate entities managing their biometric data.

The regulatory environment also reflects these cultural attitudes. China’s supportive regulatory framework for biometric technologies, as described by Kostka et al. ( 2021 ), facilitates broader and faster adoption of FRP systems. The Chinese government’s approach aligns with the collective cultural values that prioritize social order and public safety. Conversely, the USA’s stricter regulatory policies, documented by Kostka et al. ( 2023 ), underscore the cultural emphasis on individual privacy rights and data protection, further impacting the adoption rates of FRP technology. In conclusion, a deeper understanding of cultural differences is essential for explaining user stickiness to FRP technology in China and the USA. Through cross-cultural investigations, not only can the gap regarding cultural differences in the continuous behavior of FRP technologies be addressed, but FRP practitioners can also develop more effective strategies tailored to the specific needs and concerns of users in the cultural contexts of China and the USA.

Research model and hypotheses

By integrating the TPB and Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology, this paper takes competency-based trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust as the antecedent variables that affect users’ attitudes, PBC and privacy concerns, which in turn influence their stickiness to the FRP. We also use trust propensity, technological literacy, individual innovativeness and prior usage experience of FRP as control variables affecting the model. The research model developed in this paper is shown in Fig. 1 .

Research model.

Usage attitudes

As the TPB serves as a foundational model, we initially validated the hypothesized relationships within the TPB with respect to FRP stickiness. In the context of TPB with technology adoption, usage attitude refers to users’ positive or negative evaluation of their self-performance when using a particular technology (Ajzen, 2020 ; Albayati et al., 2023 ). Research on fintech has shown that attitudes, such as the usefulness and ease of use of fintech, reflect how individuals perceive benefits and values (Belanche et al., 2019 ). Hanafizadeh et al. ( 2014 ) reported that when users have positive attitudes toward fintech, their adoption rate of fintech increases. Given the advantages (more convenient and more efficient in transactions) of FRP, users may be more inclined to maintain a standing positive attitude toward facial payments, which are loyal and persistently dependent on and use the FRP. On this basis, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H1. Users’ attitudes are positively related to their stickiness to FRP.

Perceived behavioral control

Perceived behavioral control (PBC) refers to the degree to which an individual perceives how easy or difficult it is for them to engage in a behavior (Ajzen, 2020 ). Perceived behavioral control requires available resources and opportunities to provide the necessary conditions for certain types of behavioral adoption (Ajzen, 2020 ). In our research context, the PBC reflects users’ perceptions of their ability and skills in using facial payment services, that is, whether individuals understand how to use FRPs and whether they have sufficient confidence in using FRP technology (Albayati et al., 2023 ). When individuals have essential and mastered ability and ample resources in the process of using facial payments, they can possess greater PBC. In this case, they are expected to choose FRP rather than other payment technologies and increase their usage frequency of FRP. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2: Users’ perceived behavior control is positively related to stickiness to FRP technology.

Subjective norms

Subjective norms refer to the extent to which an individual perceives the influence of the surrounding crowd on his or her behavior when he or she engages in a behavior (Ajzen, 2020 ). Subjective norms mean that individuals believe that certain behaviors must be accepted or rejected according to the expectations of those around them, especially family and close friends (Belanche et al., 2019 ). The standards and beliefs imposed by those around them have a significant effect on individuals’ behavior (Ajzen, 2020 ). In the FRP context. Subjective norms reflect that consumers are influenced by the persuasion of people around them, such as friends and family, or actively imitate the behavior around them when they pay through facial brushing. If the user’s family or people around them believe that facial payment is feasible and that the use of FRP is continual, then the user’s stickiness to FRP technology increases. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

H3: Users’ subjective norms are positively related to stickiness to FRP technology.

Effects of Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology on the TPB

Scholas noted that user trust is a prerequisite for users’ technology adoption behavior (Hozanne, 2012 ; Lankton et al., 2015 ). It is rational to consider trust when studying the continual technology usage behavior of facial payments. On the basis of the trust typology of Sako ( 1992 ), this study subdivided three different types of trust, namely, competence trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust. It is necessary to explore and examine the influence of different types of trust on users’ stickiness toward facial payments. Notably, because trust reflects people’s intrinsic perceptions of reliance on FRP, we focus only on the impacts of competence and contractual and goodwill trust on users’ attitudes and PBC in the model.

On the basis of the characteristics of FRP, competence trust comes from the ability of the FRP itself to meet the needs of users (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ), which mainly includes payment service quality and reliability (Lai and Rau, 2021 ). The enhanced level of competence trust toward FRP signifies its capacity to facilitate users in a more convenient and efficient manner while carrying out payment transactions (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ). When users are competent in trusting FRP, they can obtain superior usage experience from the use of the FRP itself, thereby improving and strengthening the user’s attitude toward facial payments (Moriuchi, 2021 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ). In addition, a higher level of competence trust in FRP can promote users’ cognitive ability and confidence and enhance their sense of control when using FRP. Therefore, we hypothesize the following:

H4: Users’ competence trust is positively related to their attitude.

H5: Users’ competence trust is positively related to their PBC.

Contractual trust comes from both parties adhering to a particular written or oral agreement (Sako, 1992 ). In addition, contractual trust occurs when partners adhere to ethical standards, i.e., keep their promises (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ). Contractual trust is defined as follows: in the face-brushing payment scenario, the FRP service provider can fulfill its commitment on the basis of the security guarantee of users in writing or agreement; thus, users have contractual trust (Sako and Helper, 1998 ). As a new technology, FRP may have unknown risks, and users need corresponding contracts to provide security protection (Lai and Rau, 2021 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ). The literature has shown that the greater the degree of trust is, the lower the degree of risk perception and thus the more positive the user’s attitude (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ). Therefore, contractual trust in FRP may enable positive evaluations and attitudes toward FRP technology among users. In the case of higher contractual trust, users may be less concerned about FRP and increase their confidence and sensation of control throughout the utilization of FRP. Hence, we hypothesize the following:

H6: Users’ contractual trust is positively related to their attitude.

H7: Users’ contractual trust is positively related to their PBC.

Goodwill trust involves exceeding expectations, such as responding to requests beyond normal and recognizing a partner’s interests as one’s own (Sako, 1992 ). Sirdeshmukh et al. ( 2002 ) argued that goodwill trust increases when partners promise to respond to certain requests outside the norm. Therefore, goodwill trust also involves thinking that the other person is doing more than is formally expected (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ). In the FRP context, goodwill trust is defined as users prebelieving that the facial payment provider is trustworthy enough and that they have higher expectations for the payment process out of their own benevolence (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako, 1992 ). When users have higher levels of goodwill trust, they will experience better values and benefits from FRP, which will enable them to have a positive attitude toward FRP. Greater goodwill trust also enables users to think that the services provided by FRP will exceed their original expectations so that they can feel superior accessible control when using FRP technology. Accordingly, we hypothesize the following:

H8: Users’ goodwill trust is positively related to their attitude.

H9: Users’ goodwill trust is positively related to their PBC.

Privacy concerns

Privacy concerns refer to the apprehensions and anxieties that users have regarding the collection, storage, and use of their personal information via technologies (Dhagarra et al., 2020 ; Cheng et al., 2024 ). In the context of FRP, these concerns include fears about unauthorized access, data breaches, surveillance, and potential misuse of personal data. Users who harbor significant concerns about the privacy and security of their biometric data are less likely to fully embrace and consistently use FRP systems (Yang et al., 2023 ). These concerns can stem from fears of data breaches, unauthorized access, and potential misuse of personal information (Cheng et al., 2024 ). When users perceive that their privacy might be compromised, their confidence in using FRP diminishes. This leads to negative attitudes, hesitation, and reluctance to integrate FRP into their regular payment routines (Liu et al., 2021 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ). This negative user experience can result in a lower usage frequency and a decreased likelihood of relying on FRP for everyday transactions. Furthermore, heightened privacy concerns can lead to a negative perception of FRP technology (Cheng et al., 2024 ). Even if the system offers convenience and efficiency, the potential risks associated with privacy breaches can overshadow these benefits (Dhagarra et al., 2020 ; Liu et al., 2021 ), discouraging continued and repeated use. As a result, users may opt for alternative payment methods that they perceive as safer, further reducing the stickiness of FRP technology. Accordingly, we hypothesize the following:

H10: Privacy concerns have negative effects on users’ attitudes toward FRP.

H11: Privacy concerns have negative impacts on FRP stickiness.

The impacts of Sako’s trust typology on privacy concerns

Competence trust derives from the ability of FRP technology to meet user needs, primarily through payment service quality and reliability (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako and Helper, 1998 ; Lai and Rau, 2021 ). An enhanced level of competence trust signifies that users perceive FRP as capable of facilitating more convenient and efficient payment transactions (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ). When users trust the competence of FRP technology, they are more likely to believe that the system is reliable and secure, which reduces their privacy concerns. As a result, greater competence trust in FRP is expected to negatively impact users’ privacy concerns, making them more comfortable and reassuring in using the technology. Accordingly, we hypothesize the following:

H12: Competence trust has a negative effect on privacy concerns.

Contractual trust is defined as the belief that, in the face-brushing payment scenario, the FRP service provider can fulfill its commitments on the basis of written or agreed-upon security guarantees for users (Sako and Helper, 1998 ). When users have contractual trust in the FRP service provider, they feel assured that their privacy and data security are protected by formal agreements. This trust ensures that users’ data will not be misused or shared without authorization, thereby reducing their privacy concerns. Consequently, contractual trust in the provider’s adherence to security commitments diminishes users’ privacy concerns, making them more comfortable and reassuring in using FRP technology. Thus, we hypothesize the following:

H13: Contractual trust has a negative effect on privacy concerns.

In the FRP context, goodwill trust refers to users’ belief in the benevolence and honesty of the FRP technology provider (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; Sako, 1992 ). This form of trust is based on users’ recognition of the provider’s values and ethical standards. Goodwill trust reassures users that the provider will handle their data responsibly and ethically, with their best interests in mind and genuine concern for their experience using FRP. Additionally, goodwill trust enables users to feel that FRP can deliver better and friendlier service and support than they anticipate in each payment situation. Consequently, higher levels of goodwill trust enhance their experience using FRP and reduce their privacy concerns, making them feel more secure and reassuring in using FRP technology. Thus, we hypothesize the following:

H14: Goodwill trust has a negative effect on privacy concerns.

Control variable: trust propensity

Godoe and Johansen ( 2012 ) believe that when users accept new technologies, their personal characteristics affect their potential acceptance of those technologies. Therefore, an individual’s willingness to use a new technology is closely related to his or her personality traits. To reduce the endogenous impact of personality traits on the proposed model, a trust-related personal trait, namely, the user’s personal trust propensity, is introduced as a control variable. The propensity to trust reflects the stable personality characteristics of whether an individual trusts others, and the influencing factors include the individual’s growth environment, education level, personal knowledge and ability. People with a high propensity to trust believe that others are trustworthy no matter what the situation is and will act in their favor in a transaction. Cheung and Lee ( 2001 ) suggested that the propensity to trust is a personal characteristic that can affect individual decision-making behaviors. The individual’s propensity to trust is the psychological tendency of whether he or she is willing to trust the trusted party. Individuals with high tendencies toward trust are more likely to believe in new things (Wanner et al., 2022 ). Compared with people with low-trust tendencies, this work is conducted under the assumption that when facing an FRP, users with high-trust tendencies are more inclined to try this technology despite their lack of use experience. Therefore, we take trust propensity as a control variable and develop the following hypothesis:

H15: Trust propensity has a significant effect on FRP stickiness.

Control variable: technological literacy

Technological literacy is defined as the ability to use, manage, and understand technology effectively (Estes, 2017 ). Individuals with greater technological literacy are more likely to understand the principles and operation of FRP systems, leading to greater confidence and reduced hesitation in their use (Nes et al., 2021 ). High technological literacy enhances users’ motivation and comfort in using FRP while also mitigating concerns related to security and reliability (Bhattacherjee and Sanford, 2006 ; Kim and Jeon, 2020 ). Moreover, highly technologically literate users are better equipped to evaluate the benefits and potential risks associated with FRP technology (Gonzales II and Gonzales, 2024 ). They are more likely to appreciate the convenience and efficiency offered by the FRP, such as faster transaction times and an improved user experience, and integrate it seamlessly into their daily routines. This critical evaluation and understanding foster a positive perception of FRP, encouraging continued and repeated use, which increases stickiness. Accordingly, we hypothesize the following:

H16: Technological literacy has a significant effect on FRP stickiness.

Control variable: individual innovativeness

Individual innovativeness is defined as the openness and willingness to adopt new technologies and innovative products (Jeon et al., 2020 ; Lee, 2024 ). Individuals with high innovativeness typically exhibit stronger curiosity and a greater willingness to try new things. They are more inclined to embrace FRP technology and invest time and effort to understand and utilize it (Wang and Lee, 2020 ), resulting in greater stickiness. Additionally, highly innovative individuals are generally better at overcoming doubts regarding new technologies (Wu and Liu, 2023 ) (i.e., FRP in this study). With a positive attitude toward FRP, they are more likely to accept its benefits and efficiency (Hwang et al., 2024 ). The positive experiences and perceptions they accumulate during usage further increase their reliance on FRP, increasing their stickiness. Conversely, individuals with lower innovativeness tend to adopt a conservative attitude toward new technologies, often harboring concerns about the security of FRP. They may encounter more psychological barriers and operational difficulties during usage, leading to lower usage frequency and decreased stickiness to FRP. Therefore, we consider individual innovativeness as a control variable and propose the following hypothesis:

H17: Individual innovativeness has a significant effect on FRP stickiness.

Control variable: prior usage experience of FRP

Scholars have shown that prior usage experience of a technology plays a critical role in affecting user adoption behavior (Deng et al., 2010 ; Kesharwani, 2020 ; Tavitiyaman et al., 2022 ). Individuals with prior usage experience are more likely to develop familiarity and comfort with a technology, leading to increased confidence and reduced hesitation in its use (Kesharwani, 2020 ; Tavitiyaman et al., 2022 ). In the FRP context, prior usage experience with FRP can increase users’ familiarity, which mitigates user concerns about security and reliability, increasing the likelihood of users using FRP more frequently. Additionally, prior experience enhances users’ perceptions of the convenience and efficiency of FRP (Deng et al., 2010 ). Users who have successfully used FRP recognize its benefits, such as faster transaction times and an improved user experience. These positive experiences reinforce the perceived value of FRP, encouraging continued and repeated use, thus increasing stickiness. Therefore, we consider prior usage experience with FRP as a control variable and propose the following hypothesis:

H18: Prior usage experience of FRP has a significant effect on FRP stickiness.

Research methods

Data collection and sample.

In this study, an online questionnaire survey was used to obtain data about individuals’ usage intentions toward FRP. Our study’s target samples are Chinese and United States users who have usage experience with FRP; this is because users with prior experience with FRP are more likely to understand and assess their perception of trust in FRP and their stickiness to FRP. The preliminary Chinese questionnaire was created by converting the English to Chinese translation of the initial instrument received from the English literature via a back-translation method (Brislin, 1970 ). The questionnaire was examined as a pilot test by three experts in FRP research to ensure its face and content validity. Following the incorporation of expert advice into the questionnaire modification process, a pretesting phase was launched in which the survey was administered to a subset of FRP users to evaluate the clarity and comprehension of the questions; this contributed to the creation of the final formal questionnaire. Additionally, in the questionnaire, we incorporate several open-ended questions (e.g., describing the experience and scenarios of using FRP technology for payments) to better understand user perspectives by gathering richer data and providing deeper insights. Notably, the questionnaire included numerous quality control questions aimed at determining whether respondents had prior experience with FRP.

The minimum adequate size necessary for statistically evaluating the model was calculated before the formal data collection commenced. The generally acknowledged criterion, which Nunnally ( 1978 ) established, states that the sample size must exceed ten times the number of questionnaire items. Given that this research comprises 33 questionnaire items (refer to the Appendix ), a minimum sample size of 330 is needed. To streamline the process of obtaining high-quality samples from China and the USA, we enlisted the assistance of the international paid survey firm Credamo ( www.credamo.com ). The firm employs a thorough assessment process to acquire users (e.g., online identity verification), has positioned itself as a reliable online survey platform for amassing precise and superior samples, and restricts users to a single response per internet address (IP) to mitigate the risk of duplicate responses (He et al., 2023 ; Wang et al., 2022 ). Furthermore, the collection of samples is facilitated by the organization’s extensive sample database, which employs random sampling methods rather than convenient sampling (Liu et al., 2022 ).

We requested that 1400 questionnaires be randomly distributed to FRP users throughout China and the USA by the survey provider, with 700 questionnaires distributed in China and 700 questionnaires distributed in the United States. A total of 1356 questionnaires were acquired. After 78 invalid questionnaires (e.g., participants did not meet the requirements for attention check questions) were eliminated, 1278 questionnaires remained valid for data analysis, thereby satisfying the minimum sample size criterion of 330 samples. Specifically, the valid samples included 648 Chinese samples and 630 USA samples. The percentage of responses received was 91.29%. Additionally, to evaluate the representativeness of the responses in relation to the population, we employed the extrapolation method proposed by Armstrong and Overton ( 1977 ) to detect possible nonresponse bias. The underlying premise of this approach is that participants who provide responses later are more likely to be nonrespondents (Armstrong and Overton, 1977 ; Lee and Chen, 2022 ). On the basis of the lack of significant discrepancies observed between the initial 25% and final 25% of the gathered Chinese and U.S. samples, it can be concluded that nonresponse bias is not a substantial issue and that the samples adequately represent the population. The demographic characteristics of the samples are detailed in Table 1 .

Measurement

All the variables and their corresponding measurement items in this study have been modified from previously validated literature to suit the context of user stickiness to the FRP (refer to the Appendix ). A seven-point Likert scale was utilized to assess each item. Specifically, trust, competence trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust were assessed via 2-item, 2-item and 3-item scales, respectively, adapted from Fatima and Razzaque ( 2014 ). Measures of perceived behavioral control (three items measured), subjective norms (three items measured), and attitudes (four items measured) were adapted from Nasri and Charfeddine ( 2012 ). Privacy concerns were assessed via three items adapted from Cheng et al. ( 2024 ). FRP stickiness was measured via three items adapted from Chiang and Hsiao ( 2015 ). Finally, in terms of the control variable, the three items utilized to measure the control variable trust propensity were adapted from Wanner et al. ( 2022 ). Technological literacy was measured via three items adapted from Gonzales II and Gonzales ( 2024 ) and Kim and Jeon ( 2020 ). Individual innovativeness was assessed with a four-item scale adapted from Lee ( 2024 ). Prior usage experience of FRP was measured by how long users had been using FRP (refer to Table 1 ).

Common method bias

As recommended by MacKenzie and Podsakoff ( 2012 ), several ex ante measures were implemented in this study to reduce the potential impact of common method bias. Furthermore, to analyze CMB, three post hoc statistical tests were performed. Regarding the ex ante methodologies we implemented, we meticulously considered the questionnaire’s structure, which entailed modifying the scale categories and anchor labels (Lee et al., 2023b ). Additionally, we communicated to the participants that although the subject matter appeared comparable at initial inspection, every question was notably unique. As a result, we recommended that they diligently scrutinize each item. Additionally, the constructs’ identities were withheld, and the designations of the measurement items were assigned arbitrarily (Lee et al., 2023b ).

We employed three distinct post hoc statistical tests: a single-factor test by Harman ( 1967 ), a full collinearity test, and a marker variable technique. Initially, CMB was evaluated via Harman’s test. The findings indicate that CMB is not substantiated, as no individual factor accounts for more than 50% of the variance (Harman, 1967 ). Furthermore, a second examination of CMB was conducted via a full collinearity test (Lee et al., 2021 ). According to the findings presented in Table 2 , no significant issues were identified with CMB, as all variance inflation factors (VIFs) remained below the recommended threshold of 3.3 (Lee et al., 2021 ). Finally, a marker variable approach was employed to assess CMB (Simmering et al., 2015 ). As the profession of the respondents (demographic) is not conceptually associated with the TPB variables and privacy concerns, we used it as a marker variable in accordance with the recommendations of Lee et al. ( 2023a , 2023b ). There was no statistically significant correlation between each variable in the model and profession. We concluded that CMB had no effect on the results of the three distinct examinations.

Data analysis

The statistical evaluation of the model was conducted via the partial least squares (PLS) method, which offers several benefits, including the avoidance of deviations from model complexity, nonnormal distributions, multicollinearity, and small sample sizes (Hair et al., 2013 ; Lee and Wang, 2023 ). We adopted PLS for data analysis because competence trust and contractual trust are measured via a two-item scale, and PLS is more dependent on data analysis when analyzing a construct comprising a smaller number of indicators (Sarstedt et al., 2022 ). SmartPLS 4.0 software was used to conduct the statistical examination. PLS analysis was used to investigate the measurement model and the structural model.

Measurement model

The assessment of the measurement model consists of three fundamental elements: reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. To evaluate reliability, it is imperative that the factor loadings, composite reliability, and Cronbach’s α values for every variable surpass the minimum requirement of 0.7, as stated by Hair et al. ( 2013 ). The factor loading values corresponding to the measurement items, which vary between 0.731 and 0.875, the composite reliability values between 0.794 and 0.901, and the Cronbach’s α values between 0.766 and 0.889, are consistent with the reliability criteria outlined in Table 3 . To guarantee convergent validity, the average variance extracted (AVE) must exceed the critical value of 0.5, as stated by Hair et al. ( 2013 ). The variables’ AVE values, which were found to be between 0.562 and 0.728, demonstrated that they met the convergent validity requirement (see Table 3 ). Discriminant validity was evaluated via the heterotrait–monotrait ratio of correlations (HTMT) method (Henseler et al., 2015 ); HTMT values had to fall below the acceptable threshold of 0.85. As shown in Table 4 , discriminant validity was supported by the fact that all the HTMT values were less than 0.85. To summarize, the assessment of our model achieved acceptable levels of reliability, as well as commendable convergent and discriminant validity.

Structural model

The computation and validation of the path coefficient, explanatory power ( R 2 value), and predictive ability ( Q 2 ) of the model are all part of structural equation model analysis (Hair et al., 2013 ). To calculate the path coefficients and R 2 and Q 2 values of the model, this study used the bootstrap resampling method (10,000 resamples) recommended by Hair et al. ( 2013 ). The PLS analysis revealed that, except for H3, H15, H16, H17 and H18, all the hypotheses are supported, as shown in Fig. 2 and Table 5 . In Section 6.1, we discuss the unsupported hypotheses. In addition, the R 2 values for attitude, perceived behavioral control, privacy concerns and FRP stickiness are 0.626, 0.418, 0.457, and 0.779, respectively, indicating significant explanatory power (Hair et al., 2013 ). With respect to predictive power ( Q 2 ), the results revealed that the Q 2 values for attitude, perceived behavioral control, privacy concerns, and FRP usage intention were 0.578, 0.392, 0.413, and 0.743, respectively. Furthermore, according to the results of the path coefficients among the variables, we find that competence trust is the most important factor affecting users’ attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and privacy concerns in the context of FRP stickiness.

Results of the model analysis.

Mediating effect analysis

The mediating effect refers to whether the independent variable influences the dependent variable through a mediator. In this work, the method of Zhao et al. ( 2010 ) is used to test the mediating effects. When the indirect effect is significant and the direct effect is not significant, there is indirect-only mediation (Zhao et al., 2010 ). If the indirect effect is significant and the direct effect is also significant and the product of the two effects is positive (or negative), then there is complementary mediation (or competitive mediation) (Lee and Chen, 2022 ). The results of the mediating analysis are shown in Table 6 . The ten paths involved complementary mediation. In particular, both attitude and PBC act as partial mediators between competence trust and user stickiness to the FRP (i.e., paths 1 and 2), competence trust and FRP stickiness (i.e., paths 3 and 4), and competence trust and FRP stickiness (i.e., paths 5 and 6). In other words, attitude and PBC partially mediate the impacts of competence trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust on stickiness to FRP technology. Moreover, the variable of privacy concerns serves as a partial mediator between competence trust, contractual trust, goodwill trust, and user stickiness to the FRP (i.e., paths 7, 8 and 9, respectively). Attitude partially mediates the effect of privacy concerns on stickiness to FRP (i.e., path 10).

Multisample analysis

To further understand how cultural differences (Chinese vs. American) influence user stickiness to FRP, we adopted multigroup analysis (MGA) (Henseler and Fassott, 2010 ). This analysis allows us to examine differences between identical models estimated for different groups of respondents (Hair et al., 2013 ; Lee et al., 2023a ). Accordingly, we employed the MGA to identify any statistically significant differences among the proposed hypotheses when considering cultural differences. For this study we divided the survey participants into Chinese samples (648 respondents) and American samples (630 respondents) (see Table 7 ).

On the basis of the results of the MGA analysis, we found that in the model, two hypotheses (H10: privacy concerns → user attitudes toward FRP and H11: privacy concerns → FRP stickiness) significantly differed between the two groups (see Table 7 ). Specifically, in the Chinese samples, we found that privacy concerns have a nonsignificant effect on user attitudes toward FRP and FRP stickiness. In contrast, in the USA samples, privacy concerns negatively affect user attitudes and FRP stickiness. In summary, the MGA analysis reveals cultural differences in the relationships between privacy concerns and attitudes, as well as between attitudes and FRP stickiness. This highlights how privacy concerns distinctly impact user attitudes and stickiness in China compared with the USA.

Discussion and contributions

Results discussion.

The aim of this research is to explore the factors affecting user stickiness to FRPs. On the basis of the TPB, Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology, and privacy concerns, we develop a research model to examine how competence, contractual, and goodwill trust impact users’ attitudes, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and privacy concerns, which in turn determine users’ stickiness with FRP. To our knowledge, nearly all the hypotheses developed in this study were initially investigated and subsequently confirmed through empirical validation in the context of FRP stickiness. Only two FRP studies (Lai and Rau, 2021 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ) have shown that user trust is positively related to attitude; however, these studies do not differentiate between trust genres. On the basis of the findings of this study, 13 out of the 18 hypotheses were supported across the full sample, including both Chinese and American participants. The results show that attitude and PBC have a positive influence on user stickiness to the FRP (H1 and H2 are supported). That is, users with more positive attitudes and PBC choose FRPs other than alternative payment technologies and utilize them more frequently when conducting transactions. Unexpectedly, we found that subjective norms exert a nonsignificant effect on FRP stickiness (H3 was not supported). The possible reason for this is that the generation of stickiness with the FRP mainly comes from users’ own constant judgment and evaluation that the FRP is valuable and beneficial and meets their expectations. However, subjective norms may only influence users’ intent to use FRPs (Belanche et al., 2019 ) and cannot have an effectual effect on long-term FRP usage behavior.

Concerning the effect of Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology on the TPB, we observed that competence is positively related to users’ attitudes and PBC in FPR sickness (H4 and H5 are supported). If users believe that FRPs can complete payment tasks conveniently and efficiently, then they will have more competence-oriented trust in facial payment services, which enhances their behavioral attitudes and PBC toward the FRP. Users’ contractual trust is also found to strengthen their positive attitude toward FRP and increase their PBC toward facial payments (H6 and H7 are supported). These findings indicate that if users believe that face payment providers can guarantee payment security and maintain service standards while satisfying concerted contracts and promises (contractual trust in facial payments), users’ attitudes and PBC toward using FRP will improve. In addition, users’ goodwill trust enhances their favorable attitudes toward FRP and increases their PBC toward facial payments (H8 and H9 are supported). Users who possess greater levels of goodwill trust are more likely to perceive FRP as more valuable and more advantageous than expected, thereby fostering a positive attitude toward FRP and strengthening their PBC through facial payment. Furthermore, on the basis of the path coefficients in the analysis of the model, in the context of FRP stickiness, we found nuanced differences in which competence trust is the primary element influencing users’ attitudes and PBC.

We found that privacy concerns negatively impact user attitudes toward FRP and its stickiness (H10 and H11 are supported). These findings indicate that when users are worried about the privacy of their biometric data and personal information, they are less likely to have a positive attitude toward using FRP and are less likely to use them continuously. Additionally, we found that competence trust, contractual trust, and goodwill trust reduce user privacy concerns when using FRP (H12, H13, and H14 are supported). These findings suggest that when users trust the ability of FRP to effectively meet their payment needs and provide favorable usage experience, the FRP provider’s adherence to agreements, and the FRP’s friendly payment service and support, they worry less about the privacy and security of their biometric data and facial information.

Finally, all the control variables (i.e., trust propensity, technological literacy, individual innovativeness, and prior usage experience) have no significant effect on FRP stickiness (H15, H16, H17, and H18 are not supported). The possible reasons are as follows. An individual’s trust propensity trait is only a preliminary determinant of willingness to accept or adopt a technology (Cheung and Lee, 2001 ; Godoe and Johansen, 2012 ) (i.e., FRP in this study); however, a user’s sustained usage behavior is determined by the user’s competence and contractual or goodwill trust in the FRP itself. The results presented above demonstrate the effects of various forms of trust on the model, contributing to a deeper comprehension of users’ continual use behavior of FRP. In addition, while technological literacy helps users understand how to use FRP, it might not directly influence their continuous usage. Users with high technological literacy may still have privacy and data security concerns that outweigh their ability to use FRP (Gao et al., 2023 ), thus not significantly determining their stickiness. Additionally, although individual innovativeness is linked to initial adoption, it does not ensure sustained use. Innovative users might try FRP initially but may hesitate and reduce their usage if they encounter issues or perceive the risks to outweigh the benefits (Liu et al., 2021 ). Individual innovativeness does not guarantee stickiness to FRP. Moreover, regarding prior usage experience, although users may have a certain level of familiarity with FRP, this familiarity may not fully translate to continuous usage behavior. Concerns about biometric data leakage when using FRP can diminish the advantages of familiarity (Gao et al., 2023 ; Kostka et al., 2023 ), resulting in a nonsignificant impact of prior usage experience on FRP stickiness.

Theoretical contributions

This paper provides several theoretical contributions to the existing research. First, a substantial body of literature in the field of FRP has been dedicated to investigating usage intentions (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Hwang et al., 2024 ; Lyu et al., 2023 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Nan et al., 2022 ; Palash et al., 2022 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ; Zhang and Kang, 2019 ; Zhong and Moon, 2022 ; Zhong et al., 2021 ) and sustained usage intentions (Gao et al., 2023 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ). However, scholars have observed a discrepancy between the intended and actual usage patterns of users, which is commonly referred to as the intention‒behavior gap (de Mesquita et al., 2023 ; Gao et al., 2023 ; Hassan et al., 2016 ; Sheeran and Webb, 2016 ). We embrace the concept of stickiness, which reflects users’ continuous use behavior that involves choosing FRP over alternative pay technologies and using FRP more frequently while making transactions (Elliot et al., 2013 ; Shen et al., 2022 ), and the TPB to further explore how attitudes, PBC and subjective norms affect user stickiness toward FRP. The results showed that users’ attitudes and PBC enhance user stickiness to FRP, whereas subjective norms have no significant influence on FRP stickiness. This study enhances the existing body of literature by providing a deeper understanding of the underlying connections between the TPB and user stickiness within the context of FRP.

Second, the establishment of user trust plays a crucial role in ensuring the long-term acceptance and adoption of FRP, as highlighted by previous studies (Lai and Rau, 2021 ; Moriuchi, 2021 ; Nan et al., 2022 ; Shiau et al., 2023 ). Scholars have explored the impact of trust on users’ behavioral patterns when FRP is used from multiple perspectives. These perspectives include initial trust (Palash et al., 2022 ), trust in FRPs (Ciftci et al., 2021 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ), and trust in the service provider (Li and Li, 2023 ). From a strictly academic standpoint, numerous categories of trust exist (Fatima and Razzaque, 2014 ; He, 2020 ; Liu, 2015 ). Previous research on trust in the FRP has focused primarily on trust in facial technology itself but has neglected the use of a comprehensive trust typology to examine the specific mechanisms of trust that influence users’ continual use of the FRP (referred to as user stickiness in this study). This paper draws on competence, contractual and goodwill trust based on Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology and combines the TPB to examine their joint impacts in the context of FRP stickiness. We found that competence, contractual trust and goodwill trust are positively related to user attitudes and PBC. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explain how the three types of trust affect user attitudes and PBC in the context of technology adoption and to improve the understanding of the underlying mechanisms between competence, contractual and goodwill trust and the TPB in relation to FRP stickiness.

Third, our study employed mediation effect analysis to determine that attitudes and PBC serve as partial mediators in the relationships among competence trust, contractual trust, goodwill trust, and stickiness to the FRP. The positive attitudes of users toward FRP and their PBC are reinforced by competence, contracts, and goodwill trust; this, in turn, leads to an increase in user stickiness to the FRP. This study makes a valuable contribution to the current literature by offering more insights into the relationships among Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology, the TPB and FRP stickiness. Fourth, our findings highlight how competence trust, contractual trust, and goodwill trust influence user stickiness to FRP through privacy concerns. Privacy concerns serve as a partial mediator between these forms of trust and user stickiness, providing nuanced insights into how different dimensions of trust can alleviate privacy concerns and enhance the continuous usage of FRP technology; this extends the technology adoption literature on trust by specifying the mechanisms through which trust influences continuous user behavior in privacy-sensitive technology contexts such as that of FRP. The study also reveals that user attitudes partially mediate the effect of privacy concerns on stickiness to FRP; this underscores the importance of addressing privacy concerns to foster positive user attitudes, which in turn drive sustained usage of FRP. This finding enriches the TPB by integrating privacy concerns as a significant factor shaping user attitudes and continuous usage behavior in the context of FRP. In summary, academics suggest that the TPB should be expanded to incorporate additional theories or variables for a more comprehensive explanation and prediction of user behavior (Ajzen, 2020 ; Ulker-Demirel and Ciftci, 2020 ). By including Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology and privacy concerns, we enhance the practicality and explanatory power of the TPB, strengthening our theoretical foundation for investigating user stickiness behavior in the FRP.

Finally, the majority of FRP research has focused on China (e.g., Gao et al., 2023 ; Hu et al., 2023 ; Lee and Pan, 2023 ; Li and Li, 2023 ; Hwang et al., 2024 ), and there is a research gap in cross-cultural comparative studies on user stickiness to FRP, especially between the USA and China. The MGA approach revealed distinct impacts of privacy concerns on user attitudes and FRP stickiness between the Chinese and USA samples. In the Chinese context, privacy concerns had a nonsignificant effect on user attitudes and FRP stickiness; this suggests that Chinese users may prioritize the convenience and benefits of FRP over privacy issues (Kostka et al., 2023 ). In contrast, samples from the USA showed that privacy concerns negatively affect both user attitudes and FRP stickiness. These findings indicate that American users’ emphasis on personal privacy and data security significantly hinders the adoption and continued usage of FRP (Kostka et al., 2023 ). This study contributes to the FRP literature by incorporating national cultural considerations (i.e., Chinese and U.S. samples), offering a nuanced understanding of how cultural values influence users’ attitudes toward FRP and their stickiness to FRP.

Practical implications

This research has important practical significance for the further promotion of FRP. We demonstrate that in both the Chinese and American samples, competence, contractual, and goodwill trust are positively associated with users’ attitudes and PBC and negatively related to privacy concerns, which in turn increase user stickiness to FRP. The findings presented herein provide empirical support for the design and development of FRP services by means of managers and FRP service providers. First, concerning fostering user competence trust in FRP technology, FRP service providers should constantly optimize the payment process and upgrade their payment systems on a regular basis to enable users to easily and effectively use FRP services without making additional efforts and that they can benefit from enhanced convenience and efficiency as a result of doing so. Through enhanced payment experience, people are more likely to sense greater value and benefits and feel happy to enhance their competency-based trust in the FRP. As a result, individuals may utilize such a payment method routinely and constantly, and using facial scanning to pay is their first choice in transactions.

Second, to increase the contractual trust of users, the security of their own facial payment services should also be guaranteed. Currently, FRP technologies still face several risks, such as twin recognition, facial imitation and other factors that affect the normal recognition process and destroy the environment for safe payment. Should be through stronger encryption algorithms, improve the level of security, reduce the occurrence of false brushes, stolen brushes, etc., to provide users with a more secure trading environment. Moreover, managers of FRP firms can formulate more detailed and reasonable compensation plans for consumers in view of the above abnormal transactions, reduce user losses and improve user trust. By doing so, users’ attitudes toward FRP and their PBC toward FRP can be further improved and enhanced, which increases their adherence to FRP. Third, from the perspective of goodwill trust, the two important tasks for FRP service providers are to establish a favorable reputation and image and advertise the advantages of facial payment via reasonable and easy-to-follow promotions. Users may perceive a certain level of assurance regarding the quality of a company’s FRP services when it has a positive reputation and image. These aforementioned practices may help users produce better usage experiences than expected, which can provide additional benefits to users, further enhance their goodwill trust, and improve their attitudes toward facial payments and PBC when using FRP. In summary, by implementing these measures to strengthen competence trust, contractual trust, and goodwill trust, FRP service providers can effectively enhance users’ sense of security; this, in turn, reduces privacy concerns and increases users’ motivation to continuously use FRP.

Finally, the distinct impacts of privacy concerns on user attitudes and FRP stickiness between the Chinese and American samples suggest that tailored strategies are needed for the Chinese and American markets. In the Chinese context, where privacy concerns have a nonsignificant effect on user attitudes and FRP stickiness, efforts should focus on highlighting the convenience and benefits of FRP (Kostka et al., 2023 ). Marketing campaigns can emphasize the efficiency, speed, and ease of use associated with FRP technology. Additionally, providing clear information about the security measures in place can help reinforce user confidence without needing to focus excessively on privacy issues. Conversely, in the USA, where privacy concerns significantly hinder FRP acceptance and continued usage, addressing these concerns head-on is crucial. Companies should prioritize transparency in terms of data usage and robust privacy protections. Implementing and communicating strong data security practices, such as data encryption and user consent protocols, is essential. Moreover, educational campaigns that inform users about how their biometric data are protected can help mitigate privacy concerns and encourage adoption. By understanding these cultural differences, FRP providers can better meet the needs and expectations of users from diverse cultural backgrounds and develop more effective strategies to increase global user stickiness to FRP technology.

Limitations and future research

This study makes several theoretical and practical contributions, but it also has numerous limitations that may suggest new avenues for future investigations. First, this research employed a cross-sectional design to assess users’ FRP usage stickiness. The participants were surveyed at specific time intervals to gather data. However, this design may not guarantee causality within the model. Thus, the causal relationship between the hypothesized factors can be established and investigated further in subsequent work employing a long-term research design. Specifically, when conducting a longitudinal research design, we can refer to Kesharwani’s ( 2020 ) practice. The questionnaires can be administered at multiple time points, depending on the causality of the variables. For example, in the case of three time points, at Time 1, participants rate competence, contractual and goodwill trust, and subjective norms. At Time 2, the participants rated attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and privacy concerns. At Time 3, the participants rated stickiness. Each period can be separated by three months.

Second, on the basis of Sako’s ( 1992 ) trust typology, this study analyses the impacts of three types of trust (i.e., competence trust, contractual trust and goodwill trust) on user stickiness to FRP through the TPB and privacy concerns. Other scholars’ trust typologies can be accounted for in subsequent research. For example, Warrington et al. ( 2000 ) argued that trust can be divided into initial trust before using a technology and experiential trust after using it. Initial trust comes from consumers’ initial impressions when they first use a technology, such as judging whether it is trustworthy according to the image of the technology. Experiential trust comes from cultivating the cognitive basis of both parties before the use process, thus generating a certain basis for trust. Initial trust comes from consumers’ initial impressions when they first use a technology, such as judging whether it is trustworthy according to the image of the technology. Therefore, future work should investigate how users’ initial trust and experiential trust affect their attitudes, perceived behavior control and privacy concerns, which in turn influence their stickiness to FRP. Finally, according to user feedback from the open-ended questions in the questionnaire, we found that respondents’ attitudes toward using FRP varied across different payment scenarios. For example, multiple respondents reported that they would use FRP for daily public transportation rather than offline private retail consumption. This preference is due to the fact that public transportation is managed by the government, making the respondents feel that their biometric information will not be misused. Therefore, future studies can examine whether user stickiness to FRP varies across different payment scenarios.

Data availability

The data were collected and stored according to the policy for research data management of the authors’ institutions (Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai), respecting the anonymity of the informants. The data are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions. However, the dataset can be obtained from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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International Business and Management Research Center, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China

Jung-Chieh Lee & Lei Bi

International Business Faculty, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China

Haotian Liu

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Jung-Chieh Lee: Conceptualization, Data curation, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing; Lei Bi: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Data curation, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing; Haotian Liu: Data curation, Validation, Writing-original draft, Writing-review & editing. All the authors have read and agreed with the present version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lei Bi .

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The procedures used in this study adhered to the ethical standards set out in the Declaration of Helsinki. As the study was neither medical research nor considered human experimentation as stated in the Declaration of Helsinki, and because the questionnaire did not adversely affect the mental health of the respondents, ethical approval was not required for this questionnaire-based study according to the regulations of the authors’ institution (Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai). Moreover, all respondents were at least 18 years old and provided their consent to participate in the research study by completing the questionnaire. The information collected was kept strictly confidential and anonymous and was used for research purposes only.

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Lee, JC., Bi, L. & Liu, H. User stickiness to facial recognition payment technology: insights from Sako’s trust typology, privacy concerns, and a cross-cultural context. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1070 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03569-2

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Received : 29 February 2024

Accepted : 12 August 2024

Published : 22 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03569-2

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