Trust in Automation as a Predictive Factor: An Empirical Study on Italian Adolescents and Young Adults

Financial advisory is not only a technical service but also a relationship, and the literature has long treated trust as its central element. Robo-advisors raise the question of whether the same mechanism applies when the counterpart is an automated system. Human advice rests on an interpersonal relationship built over time, whereas robo-advisors offer fast and low-cost access to the service, which changes how trust is formed. This thesis investigates the determinants of trust in automated financial advisory, focusing on how anthropomorphic textual cues shape investment behaviour among young Italian adults.