Consumer Adoption of Cloud Computing Service: An Exploratory Study

Although software and computing process have long been regarded as products among consumers (Armbrust et al., 2010; Skiba, 2011), the advancement of technologies (e.g., high-speed internet) and infrastructures leads to the notion that software and computing can be delivered as a type of service through an innovative technology called cloud computing. Cloud Computing Service (CCS) delivers applications and processing as services via the Internet, while the software and data are stored on servers at a remote location (Armbrust et al., 2010). In other words, under the context of CCS, software and computing process have become a utility such as electricity and water. Advantages of CCS include reduced investment in hardware and software, immediately elevated performance, etc. CCS is believed to be a billion dollar market and growing (Buyya, Yeo, Venugopal, Broberg, & Brandic, 2009). Nevertheless, CCS will reshape the way in which consumers perceive software and computing process (Armbrust et al., 2010) and make purchase decisions. How the notion of CCS diffuses among individual consumers remains unexplored.