Vertrauen als Engpass und Hebel: Warum Financial Wellbeing in Deutschland ohne Trust nicht skaliert und was die Akzeptanzforschung zu digitaler, persönlichkeitsbasierter Finanzberatung daraus ableitet

Marcel Dulgeridis and Axel Kahl

IU Discussion Papers - Business & Management from IU International University of Applied Sciences

Abstract: Financial wellbeing refers to managing money confidently, achieving personal goals, and buffering financial risks. Representative evidence for Germany indicates substantial strain: 52% experience financial worries at least weekly, 27% report lacking an overview of their finances, and the national financial wellbeing score is 53 (OECD mid-range). At the same time, societal indicators point to widespread caution and low baseline trust, with only 24.59% endorsing general trust in others and 74.38% reporting concern about fraud. This discussion paper argues that trust is a prerequisite for scaling integrated financial wellbeing solutions beyond niche adoption. The macro perspective is complemented by microlevel evidence from an acceptance study of personality-based digital financial advice: in an extended UTAUT model (n=100; ages 18-29), perceived functional value, trust, and social influence strongly predict behavioral intention (R²=.63), while privacy concerns are non-significant at the intention level. Based on this combined lens, the paper derives trust-by-design principles as well as governance and measurement requirements to make integrated, digital wellbeing offerings scalable and credible.

Keywords: Financial wellbeing; trust; fraud concern; technology acceptance; UTAUT; personalization; explainability; governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ger
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:iubhbm:338118

DOI: 10.56250/4108

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