Factors Influencing the Decision to Adopt a Digital Identity: A Correlational Study

The problem examined is what potential factors influenced the adoption of digital identities within a population residing in the United States. A digital identity is one or more personal data attributes or a set of claims about a person or thing that is represented or stored in a digital environment. Nations had displayed regional differences when factors that influenced digital identity adoption were studied. The goal was to perform scholarly research to address a gap in the literature concerning what factors potentially influenced adoption of digital identities by persons residing in the United States. The research question addressed: to what extent perceived trust of an institutions stewardship of digital identity information, perceived usefulness of digital identities, perceived ease of use of digital identities, and perceived privacy of digital identity information influenced persons residing in the United States to adopt a digital identity. The constructs of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in the technology acceptance model were extended to include perceived privacy, and perceived institutional trust to uncover correlational relationships between variables. A non-experimental correlational research design was employed during the research and utilized three survey instruments to evaluate the four independent variables’ influence towards digital identity adoption. A random sampling of 403 persons living within the United States 21 years of age and older was utilized to represent the adult population residing within the United States. The analysis showed that all four independent variables have a significant influence on the adoption of digital identities. Perceived institutional trust was analyzed as the most significant influencer on adoption, implying that institutional trust should be integral to a strategy to promote widespread adoption and the use of digital identities.