Factors Influencing Willingness to Invest in Peer-to-Peer Lending

Abstract

Abstract. The present study examines factors which influence willingness to invest in peer-to-peer lending. While many other studies have discussed peer-to-peer lending, few have focused on the lender's perspective or on the expected return variable. This quantitative study uses the non-probability sampling method with 157 online questionnaire respondents from Jakarta and Tangerang, along with the PLS method of analysis. The results obtained from SmartPLS show that company reputation and expected return had a positive influence on trust and that trust, in turn, had a positive influence on willingness to invest. Conversely, perceived risk was shown to have no influence on trust. From this research, it can be concluded that if a peer-to-peer lending platform desires to be more successful, it should consider focusing on improving the company's reputation and on setting a higher rate of return, rather than on the risk perceived by lenders. Keywords: peer-to-peer lending platforms, lenders, perceived risk, trust, willingness to invest