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The rapid growth of Digital Sharing Economy Platforms (DSEPs) has revolutionized consumption patterns globally, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Despite the potential of DSEPs to address societal needs and contribute to sustainable development, creating initial trust intentions among users remains a crucial challenge, especially in countries with limited access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) like Pakistan. This study aims to explore the factors that drive initial trust intentions towards DSEPs in Pakistan, considering its unique cultural, economic, and technological context. By conducting a comprehensive literature review, we identify user experience, propensity to trust, and word of mouth as potential factors influencing initial trust intentions in developed countries with equal access to resources. However, there is a lack of significant evidence on how initial trust intentions towards DSEP formed in the least developed countries like Pakistan. Through this research, we contribute to the existing knowledge on trust formation in the digital sharing economy by investigating the specific drivers of initial trust intentions in Pakistan, a country with significant potential but limited ICT infrastructure. Data was collected from 401 DSEP users through the snowball sampling technique. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights for platform developers, policymakers, and researchers, enabling them to implement strategies that foster trust and accelerate the growth of the sharing economy in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

Keywords: Digital Sharing Economy Platforms (DSEPs), Initial Trust Intentions, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), Sustainable Development.