Understanding users' intention to switch personal cloud storage services: Evidence from the Chinese market

Cloud storage services have been rapidly gaining popularity among Internet/Mobile users. Prior studies largely focused on users' early adoption of cloud storage services, continual usage of the services and users' willingness to pay. However, limited attention has been paid to switching behaviors. In the Chinese market, as services provided by different platforms become homogeneous, non-functional factors are expected to play an important role in affecting users' selection of services. Based on the push-pull-mooring framework, we propose a research model by incorporating four factors: risk, trust, switching cost and social influences (critical mass and social norm). Results from a field survey suggest that all push (risk), pull (trust, critical mass) and mooring (switching cost, social norm) factors each have direct impacts on switching intention. Mooring factors fail to moderate the impact of push factor on switching intention, but they are able to moderate the effects of pull factors on switching intention. The results yield both theoretical and practical implications. Push-Pull-Mooring framework of human migration is adopted.Perceived risk of incumbent service promotes intention to switch.Transfer trust towards the provider of new service promotes intention to switch.Favourable social norms towards the new service promotes intention to switch.Perceived critical mass towards the new service promotes intention to switch.

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