A US-China comparative study of cloud computing adoption behavior : The role of consumer innovativeness, performance expectations and social influence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of privacy concerns and consumer innovativeness towards consumer's adoption of a technological innovation in the form of cloud computing technology. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-cultural comparison between consumers in the USA and China is made through a study of consumers intending to adopt cloud computing services. A review of the technology innovation adoption literature forms the basis of the research propositions, which are based on the extant literature and focused on the innovative adoption behaviour of consumers. A comparative approach is taken to analyse the differences between US and Chinese consumers intending to adopt cloud computing services. Findings – Findings suggest that there are more similarities than differences between US and Chinese consumers adopting cloud computing services. The survey suggests that the performance expectancy, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use can help predict intention to adopt cloud computing services in both the USA and China, but consumer innovativeness is a better indicator in the USA than in China for consumers adopting technological innovations. Practical implications – This paper is important for cloud service technology marketers by indicating how social influencers can influence consumer's usage of cloud computing by affecting their social network of friends and family. In addition, insight into how consumers adopt cloud computing by focusing on privacy concerns of personal information being shared can help future technology innovations enter the marketplace at a faster rate. Originality/value – This paper fills the gap in the current technology marketing and innovation literature on how consumers adopt technological innovations and highlights the importance of increasing the perceptions of performance expectation of service innovations.