The role of trust and risk perceptions in cloud archiving — Results from an empirical study

This study presents and empirically validates a model that strives to explain end-user adoption of cloud storage as a means of personal archiving. Drawing from prior research on IT adoption, trust, risk and cloud computing, we develop a technology acceptance model that incorporates users' perceptions of risk and trust as well as major antecedents of trust. The research model is empirically tested with survey data collected from 229 cloud storage users. Our results show that trust can be conceived of as a factor that mitigates uncertainty and reduces the perception of risk, which is a significant inhibitor of the intention to use cloud storage for archiving. We find evidence that trust can be increased through both the provider's reputation and user satisfaction. Based on the results, we highlight important practical implications that can be used to inform marketing efforts of cloud storage providers and further suggest some opportunities for future research.