Building consumer trust in the cloud: an experimental analysis of the cloud trust label approach

Authors

Lisa van der Werff, Dublin City University Business School, Dublin, Ireland
Grace Fox, Dublin City University Business School, Dublin, Ireland
Ieva Masevic, Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Vincent C. Emeakaroha, Department of Computer Science, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, IrelandFollow
John P. Morrison, Irish Centre for Cloud Computing and Commerce, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Theo Lynn, Dublin City University Business School, Dublin, Ireland Show

Document Type

Article

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Disciplines

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics | Computer Sciences | Databases and Information Systems | Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces | Information Security | Software Engineering | Systems Architecture | Theory and Algorithms

Publication Details

Journal of Cloud Computing

Abstract

The lack of transparency surrounding cloud service provision makes it difficult for consumers to make knowledge based purchasing decisions. As a result, consumer trust has become a major impediment to cloud computing adoption. Cloud Trust Labels represent a means of communicating relevant service and security information to potential customers on the cloud service provided, thereby facilitating informed decision making. This research investigates the potential of a Cloud Trust Label system to overcome the trust barrier. Specifically, it examines the impact of a Cloud Trust Label on consumer perceptions of a service and cloud service provider trustworthiness and trust in the cloud service and cloud service provider. An experimental study was carried out with a sample of 227 business decision makers with data collected before exposure to the label to examine initial perceptions and after exposure to the label to examine any change in perceptions and attitudes. As hypothesised, the results suggest that Cloud Trust Labels that contain positive information can have a positive impact on trust and trustworthiness while Cloud Trust Labels that contain negative information have a negative impact. The practical implications of this new method of communicating trustworthiness online are discussed and recommendations are made for future research.

Recommended Citation

van der Werff, L., Fox, G., Masevic, I., Emeakaroha, V.C., Morrison, J.P. and Lynn, T. (2019). Building consumer trust in the cloud: an experimental analysis of the cloud trust label approach. Journal of Cloud Computing, 8(1). Available at: https://journalofcloudcomputing.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13677-019-0129-8 ‌