Telematics and Informatics 31 (2014) 376385

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Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

An Integrated Adoption Model of Mobile Cloud Services: Exploration of Key Determinants and Extension of Technology Acceptance Model
Eunil Park a, Ki Joon Kim b,
a b

Graduate School of Innovation and Technology Management, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea Interaction Science Research Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This study identies and investigates a number of cognitive factors that contribute to shaping user perceptions of and attitude toward mobile cloud computing services by integrating these factors with the technology acceptance model. A structural equation modeling analysis is employed on data collected from 1099 survey samples, and results reveal that user acceptance of mobile cloud services is largely affected by perceived mobility, connectedness, security, quality of service and system, and satisfaction. Both theoretical and practical implications of the studys ndings are discussed. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 19 September 2013 Received in revised form 14 November 2013 Accepted 20 November 2013 Available online 4 December 2013 Keywords: Mobile cloud computing services Technology acceptance model Perceived mobility Perceived connectedness Perceived security Perceived service and system quality

1. Introduction Mobile devices, such as tablet computers and smartphones, have become essential tools for communication (Dinh et al., 2011). In particular, users increasingly benet from mobile cloud computing that provides instant access to wireless networks and stored data on remote servers. With its efciency and convenience, mobile cloud computing is now considered one of the fastest growing areas of information and communication technology (ICT), as well as related industrial and academic elds (Satyanarayanan, 1996). While earlier mobile devices and services faced a number of challenges (e.g., difcult user interfaces, security threats, limited resources) in maintaining and providing adequate services (Ali, 2009; Satyanarayanan, 1996), mobile cloud computing has gained signicant public interest as a suitable and realistic nextgeneration computing service that offers a potential solution to these challenges. In spite of the rapidly growing popularity of cloud computing in the mobile environment, only a few studies have examined how user perceptions are shaped in mobile cloud computing, and these studies provide little information on how psychological factors involved in the mobile context determine user acceptance of the service. Therefore, this study rst identies user perceptions of mobility, security, connectedness, service and system quality, and satisfaction as key components of mobile cloud services and then examines how these factors affect user perceptions and acceptance of the services. More importantly, this study integrates these psychological factors with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and develops a new research model to predict the adoption of mobile cloud services by conrming the convergent, discriminant, and internal validity of the proposed model via structural equation modeling (SEM).
Corresponding author. Address: Interaction Science Research Center, Sungkyunkwan University, 326 International Hall, 53 Myeongnyun-dong 3-ga, Seoul 110-745, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 740 1867; fax: +82 2 740 1856. E-mail addresses: pa1324@kaist.ac.kr (E. Park), veritate@skku.edu (K.J. Kim).
0736-5853/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2013.11.008

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The present study is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a denition and overview of mobile cloud services. Section 3 discusses key characteristics of mobile cloud services and examines their psychological effects on user acceptance by developing an integrated research model. Sections 4 and 5 report the data collection procedure and results of the statistical analysis. This study then concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of the study ndings in Section 6. 2. Mobile cloud services Mobile cloud computing is dened as an infrastructure and system where both the data storage and data processing happen outside of the mobile device (Dinh et al., 2011). Since its emergence, cloud computing has gained signicant industrial and consumer attention as a promising mobile paradigm in which data processing and storage occur in a network cloud via a wireless connection. Cloud computing technologies can reduce the maintenance and development costs of mobile services and applications, promote research on efcient methods and promising solutions for ubiquitous environments and green IT systems, and provide users with various mobile services at low cost (Aepona, 2010). Greater storage capacity is one of the key advantages of mobile cloud services. Users can access their stored data via cloud servers from a variety of electronic devices with wireless connectivity, while utilization and sharing of the data are processed remotely within the servers (Vartiainen and Mattila, 2010). Well-known examples of such cloud services are iCloud and Google Drive, which provide data storage and sharing service for images, movie clips, games, and documents. Given that these multimedia les tend to be large and mobile devices typically have smaller storage area compared to conventional computers, storage capacity has always been an important technical limitation of mobile-platform devices and services. However, mobile cloud services now offer a practical solution to this issue by allowing users to save large les in the cloud server via the wireless networks (e.g., 3G, LTE, Wi-Fi) of their mobile devices. Mobile clouds signicantly increase data storage capacity and therefore allow more convenient data management and synchronization in a ubiquitous online workspace. Long-lasting battery life is an essential component of mobile technology due to the associated portability and mobility. The electronics industry has long invested in energy-efcient technology by working to develop low-power CPU, storage disk, and display screen (Davis, 1993; Paulson, 2003; Mayo and Ranganathan, 2003). However, these attempts require changes in hardware structure and cannot be directly applied to mobile technology without signicant increases in costs and technological advancements. As a feasible solution to this challenge, cloud computing allows migration of the complex processing from a mobile device (resource-limited) to remote cloud servers (resource-rich). Prior studies have demonstrated that such computational ofoading shortens program executions and therefore extends battery life. For example, Rudenko et al. (1998) reported that performing large matrix calculations in the cloud computing environment rather than on a mobile device can save up to 50% of the energy used. In addition, Cuervo et al. (2010) found that cloud applications signicantly reduce energy consumption in computer games. Saving les on cloud servers is an effective way to enhance reliability and reduce potential threats to data loss. The majority of cloud service providers are equipped with their own means of security and backup systems that protect user data. They also provide users with various security-related services and software, including personal authentication, virus scanning and detection, and protection of private information (Oberheide et al., 2008). Furthermore, cloud computing services can be applied to protect copyrighted online contents (e.g., books, movies, MP3s) and prevent unauthorized distribution of these materials (Zou et al., 2010). Due to these strengths and advantages, mobile cloud computing has emerged as an attractive platform for the upcoming era of Web 3.0. In 2007, Schmidt (2007), CEO of Google, referred to Web 3.0 as a computing application model and dened it as applications that are pieced together so that they (1) are relatively small, (2) are very fast and customizable, (3) can operate on any device (PC or mobile), and (4) store data in the cloud. These characteristics of the predicted Web 3.0 precisely correspond to the key components and strengths of mobile cloud computing, suggesting the signicant potential of mobile cloud computing as the future mainstream technology. 3. User acceptance model of mobile cloud services 3.1. Technology acceptance model (TAM) TAM consists of two main beliefs known as perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, which Davis (1989, 1993) dened as the degree to which a person believes that using a specic system would be free of mental and physical efforts and the degree to which a person believes that using a specic system would enhance his/her job performance, respectively. Numerous studies have successfully utilized and replicated TAM to predict user acceptance of novel technologies and systems and demonstrated that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness largely determine user attitude toward a specic technology, while attitude and perceived usefulness signicantly affect behavioral intention to use the technology. The TAM framework has been particularly useful in exploring user acceptance of recent novel mobile technologies and services, including smartphones (Joo and Sang, 2013; Park and Chen, 2007), mobile banking (Lee and Chung, 2009), mobile games (Ha et al., 2007), and long-term evolution (LTE) services (Park and Kim, 2013). By extension, TAM is also likely to be applicable to examining the adoption of mobile cloud services and is likely to show causal relationships among the

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constructs that are similar to the ndings of earlier studies. Therefore, the current study employs the TAM-based approach and examines the role of the following psychological factors in determining the user acceptance of mobile cloud services. 3.2. Attitude (ATT) The theory of reasoned action (TRA) argues that an individuals intention to engage in specic behaviors is primarily determined by his/her subjective norm and attitude (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977). TRA refers to attitude as the amount of affect for or against some objects or simply, feelings about doing target behaviors (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977). The causal relationship between attitude and behavioral intention has also been emphasized by TAM and conrmed by ample studies. Therefore, the present study applies and extends this TRA-based relationship between attitude and intention to the context of mobile cloud services. H1. Attitude toward mobile cloud services will have positive effects on intention to use the services. 3.3. Perceived usefulness (PU) TAM posits that perceived usefulness is a strong predictor of attitude toward and intention to use specic information systems and services (Davis, 1989, 1993, 1992). Numerous studies (e.g., Joo and Sang, 2013; Park and Chen, 2007; Lee and Chung, 2009; Ha et al., 2007; Park and Kim, 2013) have replicated this TAM framework and demonstrated that perceived usefulness have positive effects on user attitude and behavioral intention. In a similar vein, this study denes perceived usefulness as the degree to which users believe that using mobile cloud services improves their job performance and predicts that it will have similar positive effects on attitude toward and intention to use mobile cloud services. Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed. H2. Perceived usefulness will have positive effects on intention to use mobile cloud services. H3. Perceived usefulness will have positive effects on attitude toward mobile cloud services. 3.4. Perceived connectedness (PC) In collaborative environments, users tend to share and communicate with others via a particular system (Shin, 2010). For example, users may prefer to communicate with others in a virtual system at their physical and locational convenience rather than actually meeting in person. Similarly, mobile cloud services can provide users with a more positive feeling of connectedness in virtual reality. In the wireless network, online spaces offer various dynamic and convenient functions, including sharing les and posting information, and provide users with means of interacting with others (Shin and Kim, 2008). Although social interactions in these spaces do not require users simultaneous presence at the same space and time, they still experience the sense of connectedness with their friends and colleagues. Users feelings of perceived connectedness are the degrees to which they believe that they are cognitively connected with the network, its people, and its resources (Shin, 2010). Users may enjoy cognitive connectedness through mobile cloud services and experience a strong sense of co-presence while using the services (Boyd and Ellison, 2007; Shin, 2010). The current study adopts this notion of connectedness and proposes the following hypotheses. H4. Perceived connectedness will have positive effects on perceived usefulness of mobile cloud services. H5. Perceived connectedness will have positive effects on attitude toward mobile cloud services. 3.5. Service and system quality (SSQ) Coined by DeLone and McLean (1992), the term system and service quality refers to the perceived level of general performance of a particular system and its service. Ample research has revealed positive relationships between quality of service and system and user perceptions of that service and system. For example, DeLone and McLean (1992) demonstrated that users behavioral intentions to use a particular information service and system are largely determined by the service and system quality. In addition, Park and del Pobil (2013) found that service and system quality is a signicant determinant of intention to use mobile services. Since mobile cloud services consist of both a service (e.g., cloud program) and a system (e.g., mobile devices), the current study examines them as one construct. This construct is likely to have notable effects on attitude and behavioral intention to use mobile cloud services. Therefore, the current study set forth the following hypotheses. H6. Service and system quality will have positive effects on intention to use mobile cloud services. H7. Service and system quality will have positive effects on attitude toward mobile cloud services.

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3.6. Perceived security (PS) Although mobility, immediacy, and availability are key strengths of mobile cloud services, these characteristics also raise increasing concerns related to privacy and security of data stored and accessed via mobile clouds. Earlier studies dened perceived security as the degree to which users believe in the security of a particular service and demonstrated that it plays a critical role in determining user attitude toward and perceived usefulness of online services (Shin, 2010; Yenisey et al., 2005). By extension, perceived security is also likely to have similar psychological effects on the ways in which users accept and utilize mobile cloud services. Based on this rationale, the current study denes perceived security as the level of user belief in the security of the mobile cloud services and examines the following related hypotheses. H8. Perceived security will have positive effects on service and system quality of mobile cloud services. H9. Perceived security will have positive effects on attitude toward mobile cloud services. 3.7. Perceived mobility (PM) This study examines perceived mobility as a determinant of perceived usefulness and service and system quality of mobile cloud services because mobility (portability) is a core factor of any wireless or ubiquitous network service. Perceived mobility refers to the degree to which users are aware of the mobility value of mobile services and systems (Huang et al., 2007). In the context of this study, perceived mobility is dened as the perceived capability to wirelessly access and use particular mobile services via a users device. Siau and Shen (2003) found that perceived portability is the most representative characteristic of wireless communication networks. Huang et al. (2007) reported that perceived mobility of portable devices plays a signicant role in enhancing perceived usefulness of mobile education services. In accordance with these ndings, the current study hypothesizes the following: H10. Perceived mobility will have positive effects on perceived usefulness of mobile cloud services. H11. Perceived mobility will have positive effects on service and system quality of mobile cloud services. 3.8. Satisfaction (ST) Numerous prior studies have demonstrated that user satisfaction with a particular service or system is positively associated with behavioral intention to use the service. For example, Battacherjee (2001) found that initial user satisfaction with an information system was positively related to actual use of the system. Similarly, Park and Kim (2013) discovered that satisfaction with mobile services positively affected user intention to use the services. Therefore, this study posits the following hypothesis: H12. Satisfaction will have positive effects on intention to use to use mobile cloud services. 3.9. Research model The following research model (Fig. 1) was examined in order to validate the proposed hypotheses. 4. Method 4.1. Survey development In-depth interviews were conducted to select potentially important psychological factors that are closely related to mobile cloud services. The purpose of the interviews was (A) to reconrm factors from prior studies, (B) to examine unique characteristics of mobile cloud services, and (C) to create valid and reliable survey questions. Participants in the interview were undergraduate students who were recruited from a large private university in South Korea. The interviewees were selected using the method of purposeful sampling developed by Shin and Shin (2011), in which a good deal of information and knowledge is believed to be gained from a small number of interview respondents. The experimenter interviewed 16 undergraduate students (8 males and 8 females) with different majors and class standings. Their ages ranged from 19 to 30 years (mean = 23.3, SD = 2.21), and they all had experience using mobile cloud services. Previous studies have shown that undergraduate students are a generally representative group of mobile service users (Shin and Shin, 2011; Hargittaii, 2007). Students were instructed to write their feelings and perceptions of mobile cloud services on post-it notes. The experimenter then sorted the notes into the six constructs (i.e., mobility, security, connectedness, service and system quality, satisfaction,

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Fig. 1. The proposed research model.

Table 1 Survey questionnaire items. Construct Perceived mobility PM1 PM2 PM3 PU1 PU2 PU3 PC1 PC2 PC3 SSQ1 SSQ2 SSQ3 Perceived security PS1 PS2 PS3 Attitude ATT1 ATT2 ATT3 ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4 Intention to use IU1 IU2 IU3 Item Mobility of mobile cloud computing services makes it possible to acquire real-time data It is convenient to use mobile cloud computing services anytime and anywhere Mobility is an outstanding advantage of mobile devices offering mobile cloud computing services I think mobile cloud computing services are useful for my job Using mobile cloud computing services increases my productivity Using mobile cloud computing services improves my work performance and effectiveness I feel like I am connected to external reality because I can search for desired information I feel good because I can access the services anytime via mobile devices I feel emotionally comforted because I can do something interesting with mobile cloud computing services at my convenience Mobile devices with cloud computing services provide more services in line with the purpose of the system I have not had any limitations or problems with using mobile cloud computing services Mobile devices with cloud computing services fully meet my needs I am condent that the private information in mobile cloud computing services is secure I believe nobody can view my information or data stored in mobile cloud computing services without my agreement I believe my information or data in mobile cloud computing services will not be manipulated by inappropriate parties I have positive feelings toward mobile cloud computing services in general It is a good idea to use mobile cloud computing services I think it is desirable to use mobile cloud computing services as opposed to other mobile services Overall, I am satised with mobile cloud computing services The mobile cloud computing services I am currently using meet my expectations I recommend mobile cloud computing services to others who intend to use and buy new mobile phones Mobile cloud computing services are a benecial tool for performing my job I am very likely to continue to use mobile cloud computing services I intend to use mobile cloud computing services as much as possible I will continue to use mobile cloud computing services if I have access to the service Source Huang et al. (2007), Park and Kim (2013)

Perceived usefulness

Davis (1989)

Perceived connectedness

Shin (2010)

System and service quality

DeLone and McLean (2003), Lee and Chung (2009)

Yenisey et al. (2005), Shin and Shin (2011)

Davis (1989, 1993)

Satisfaction

DeLone and McLean (2003), Lee and Chung (2009)

Davis (1989, 1993), Park and Kim (2013)

usefulness) and developed a survey questionnaire by adopting measures from previously validated studies for assessing respondents perceptions of each of these constructs.

E. Park, K.J. Kim / Telematics and Informatics 31 (2014) 376385 Table 2 Internal reliability and convergent validity. Construct Item Internal reliability Cronbachs alpha Perceived mobility PM1 PM2 PM3 PU1 PU2 PU3 PU1 PU2 PU3 SSQ1 SSQ2 SSQ3 PS1 PS2 PS3 ATT1 ATT2 ATT3 ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4 IU1 IU2 IU3 0.92 Item-total correlation 0.87 0.87 0.79 0.84 0.84 0.87 0.80 0.82 0.85 0.84 0.84 0.89 0.87 0.80 0.85 0.85 0.81 0.80 0.79 0.86 0.82 0.86 0.82 0.82 0.84 Factor loading 0.85 0.92 0.83 0.87 0.90 0.90 0.88 0.86 0.85 0.80 0.80 0.77 0.85 0.79 0.82 0.85 0.83 0.79 0.87 0.85 0.85 0.92 0.84 0.82 0.84 Convergent validity Composite reliability 0.90

381

Average variance extracted 0.75

Perceived usefulness

0.90

0.92

0.79

Perceived connectedness

0.87

0.90

0.75

System and service quality

0.91

0.83

0.62

Perceived security

0.90

0.86

0.67

Attitude

0.83

0.86

0.68

Satisfaction

0.85

0.87

0.76

Intention to use

0.90

0.87

0.69

Table 3 Results of discriminant tests; square roots of the average variance extracted are presented as diagonal elements. 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. PM PU PC SSQ PS ATT ST IU 0.87 0.10 0.79 0.05 0.39 0.15 0.38 0.04 2 0.89 0.12 0.78 0.11 0.13 0.31 0.69 3 4 5 6 7 8

0.87 0.27 0.22 0.45 0.23 0.25

0.79 0.61 0.40 0.37 0.65

0.82 0.42 0.70 0.17

0.82 0.36 0.44

0.87 0.43

0.83

Abbreviations: PM = Perceived mobility, PU = Perceived usefulness, PC = Perceived connectedness, SSQ = System and service quality, PS = Perceived security, ATT = Attitude, ST = Satisfaction, IU = Intention to use.

Based on the results of the interview, the experimenter created and administered a pretest to examine the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Thirty undergraduate students took part in the pretest. Respondents were instructed to notify the experimenter if any of the questionnaire items were misleading or unclear. The experimenter then utilized the results and respondent feedback to create a nal set of questionnaire items for the main survey. Quantitative research experts were asked to review and modify the descriptions and wordings of the questionnaire items. To evaluate the reliability of the items, we calculated Cronbachs alphas and conrmed that they were all greater than the recommended value of 0.70 (Hair et al., 2006; ATT = 0.93, PU = 0.91, PC = 0.90, SSQ = 0.93, PS = 0.92, PM = 0.94, IU = 0.91). After these tests, a professional survey agency administered the survey on the Internet for one month. Table 1 reports the complete questionnaire used in this main survey. Participants were instructed to respond to each questionnaire item using a 7-point Likert scale. The agency collected 1498 samples, with a 41% response rate. After data ltering, 1099 valid samples remained as the nal sample data in the study. Males made up 57.2% of the respondents and females made up 42.8%. Respondents reported that they had at least two months of regular mobile cloud service use in their workspace, research, educational environment, or home. SPSS 18.0 was used to analyze the data and obtain descriptive statistics of the constructs. 4.2. Measurements For statistically acceptable internal reliability and convergent validity, Fornell and Lacker (1981) recommended that all factor loadings and values of average variance extracted (AVE) should be greater than 0.70 and 0.50, respectively. As reported in Table 2, the measurement model satised these recommendations. For discriminant validity, Fornell and Lacker (1981)

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E. Park, K.J. Kim / Telematics and Informatics 31 (2014) 376385 Table 4 Descriptive analysis of the constructs. Construct Perceived mobility Perceived usefulness Perceived connectedness System and service quality Attitude Satisfaction Intention to use Mean 5.17 5.22 5.18 5.11 5.22 5.31 5.24 Standard deviation 0.94 1.02 1.00 1.04 0.98 1.29 1.09

Table 5 Fit indices for the measurement model and overall model. Fit index Measurement model 3.44 0.904 0.921 0.049 0.055 0.909 0.929 0.941 0.924 Research model 3.81 0.911 0.914 0.045 0.066 0.912 0.932 0.939 0.908 Recommended value <5.00 >0.90 >0.80 <0.06 <0.08 >0.90 >0.90 >0.90 >0.90 Source Shin and Shin (2011) Bagozzi and Yi (1988) Fornell and Lacker (1981) Joreskog and Sorbom (1996) Bagozzi and Yi (1988) Bentler and Bonnet (1980) Bentler and Bonnet (1980) Fornell and Lacker (1981) Widaman and Thompson (2003)

v2/d.f.
GFI AGFI RMSEA SRMR NFI NNFI CFI IFI

also suggested that the correlation shared between two constructs should be less than the square root of the AVE. As shown in Table 3, the measurement model showed strong discriminant validity. 5. Results 5.1. Descriptive analysis Descriptive statistics of all measured variables are reported in Table 4. The means ranged from 5.11 to 5.31, suggesting that participants generally had positive impressions of mobile cloud services. 5.2. Model t Conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to examine the following model-t indices of the measurement and proposed research models: A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. Chi-square/degree of freedom (v2/d.f.). Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI). Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI). Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). Standardized Root Mean square Residual (SRMR). Normed Fit Index (NFI). Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI). Comparative Fit Index (CFI). Incremental Fit Index (IFI).

As described in Table 5, the t indices of both models were satisfactory. 5.3. Hypothesis tests As summarized in Table 6 and Fig. 2, the results supported all hypotheses in the research model. PU had signicant positive effects on IU and ATT (H2, b = 0.521, CR = 40.538, p < 0.001; H3, b = 0.252, CR = 11.312, p < 0.001). Similarly, SSQ also had notable effects on IU and ATT (H6, b = 0.488, CR = 30.669, p < 0.001; H7, b = 0.234, CR = 10.287, p < 0.001). Compared to PU and SSQ (H2 and H6), ATT and ST had moderately weaker effects on IU (H1, b = 0.128, CR = 7.362, p < 0.001; H12, b = 0.358, CR = 31.461, p < 0.001). PC had signicant effects on PU (H4, b = 0.716, CR = 37.340, p < 0.001), which was also positively inuenced by PM (H10, b = 0.290, CR = 15.118, p < 0.001). Similarly, PS had positive effects on SSQ (H8, b = 0.727,

E. Park, K.J. Kim / Telematics and Informatics 31 (2014) 376385 Table 6 Summary of hypothesis tests. Hypotheses H1. ATT ? IU H2. PU ? IU H3. PU ? ATT H4. PC ? PU H5. PC ? ATT H6. SSQ ? IU H7. SSQ ? ATT H8. PS ? SSQ H9. PS ? ATT H10. PM ? PU H11. PM ? SSQ H12. ST ? IU
*

383

Standardized coefcient 0.128* 0.521* 0.252* 0.716* 0.187* 0.488* 0.234* 0.727* 0.568* 0.290* 0.433* 0.358*

SE 0.014 0.009 0.017 0.016 0.017 0.011 0.020 0.013 0.016 0.016 0.014 0.006

CR 7.362 40.538 11.312 37.340 8.527 30.669 10.287 45.289 25.433 15.118 26.981 31.461

Supported Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

p < 0.001.

Fig. 2. Results of hypothesis tests; p < 0.001.

Table 7 Squared multiple correlations of the proposed research model. Constructs Perceived usefulness System and service quality Attitude Intention to use Values 59.6 71.7 75.2 85.8

CR = 45.289, p < 0.001), which was also affected by PM (H11, b = 0.433, CR = 26.981, p < 0.001). Lastly, PS and PC had notable effects on ATT (H9, b = 0.568, CR = 25.433, p < 001; H5, b = 0.187, CR = 8.527, p < 0.001). With regard to the variances of the constructs (Table 7), PU, ATT, ST, and SSQ explained 85.8% of the variance in IU. Compared to other factors, PU had the strongest effects on IU, while PS showed the strongest effects on ATT. Moreover, 59.6% of the variance in PU was explained by PM and PC, while 71.7% of the variance in SSQ was contributed by PM and PS. PU, PC, PS, and SSQ explained 75.2% of the variance in ATT.

6. Discussion The ndings of the current study have several theoretical and practical implications for device manufacturers, service providers, and academic researchers. User-behavior analysis such as that of our research model is essential for greater understanding and success of mobile cloud services, which have become a pronounced segment in the mobile environment. The current study provides an extended framework based on the structural equation modeling method that elucidates a

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user-centered decision process. The excellent t indices between the model and the collected sample data, as well as conrmations of the hypothesized causal paths, indicate the validity of the proposed integrated user acceptance model, which identies key psychological factors that largely determine the adoption pattern of mobile cloud services and explicate their causal relationship. As summarized in Fig. 2, the integrated model shows that the combinatory effects of perceived usefulness, perceived connectedness, perceived security, and service and system quality explained 75.2% of the variance in user attitude toward mobile cloud services, while 85.8% of the variance in user intention was found to be explainable by the combination of perceived usefulness, attitude, satisfaction, and service and system quality. Perceived mobility and perceived security emerged as meaningful predictors of service and system quality by explaining 71.7% of its variance. All these ndings statistically demonstrate that our proposed model, as in prior research on the adoption of novel mobile technology (Huang et al., 2007; Park and Kim, 2013; Wang et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2007), successfully establishes valid links between the key psychological factors of the services (i.e., perceived mobility, perceived connectedness, perceived security, service and system quality, and satisfaction) and the constructs from the original TAM framework (i.e., perceived usefulness, attitude, intention to use), thereby extending adoption theories on mobile technology. More specically, perceived connectedness and perceived security emerged as inuential antecedents of attitude toward mobile cloud computing services. Given that increasing emphasis is being placed on the immediate, convenient connectedness to stored data and guaranteed security from intrusion of private information, our ndings offer compelling statistical evidence showing the importance of these two factors. In addition, perceived mobility and perceived connectedness were found to be strong motivational factors of service and system quality and perceived usefulness, which then signicantly affected user attitude and intention to use mobile cloud services. In accordance with prior studies that revealed the positive effects of service and system quality and perceived usefulness on attitudes toward mobile technology (Park and del Pobil, 2013; Park and Kim, 2013; Shin et al., 2011), our ndings add to the existing literature in that these factors serve as inuential determinants for mobile cloud services as well. The implication is that enhanced mobility of and user satisfaction with a mobile cloud service are critical to the failure or success of the service, encouraging the industry to invest more in developing stable, reliable infrastructures and platforms that guarantee enhanced mobility and satisfaction with the quality of their services. In the long term, the industry should prepare new ubiquitous environments and platforms for the upcoming era of Web 3.0 while addressing the following questions: A. How concerned are users about system and service quality in decisions about using mobile cloud computing services? B. How can service providers improve service quality? From a practical perspective, the industry can utilize our integrated model to develop strategic plans for the success of their services. While most current cloud service providers offer their services free of charge, their long-term goal is to enter the mainstream mobile market and maximize prots. To do so, service providers should pay close attention to how user attitudes and behaviors are shaped. The current studys verication of the inuential roles of perceived usefulness and quality of service and system in determining user intention indicates that the industry should put its efforts into improving users overall psychological perceptions of these factors. More importantly, providers of mobile cloud services ought to set up an efcient and reliable connection via stable wireless networks. Although the ndings of the current study provide meaningful insights on adoption of mobile cloud services, there are several issues that should be taken into consideration in future research on related topics. First, individual differences of the survey respondents were not examined in this study. In their unied theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), Venkatesh et al. (2003) demonstrated that individual differences (e.g., gender, age, race) and social inuences (e.g., performance and effort expectancy, voluntariness, subjective norms) have signicant effects on user attitude toward and intention to use a specic technology. Given that the respondents were recruited from South Korea, users from Western societies are likely to have individual and social experiences that may lead to different adoption patterns. Future studies may consider investigating the potential moderating effects of these factors and employ diverse samples for greater generalizability of the proposed model. In addition, results of the data analysis revealed that the proposed model included several highly correlated variables (i.e., perceived mobility perceived connectedness, service and system quality perceived usefulness, satisfaction attitude), which suggests that there might have been inaccurate measures and missing pathways of causality in the model. Thus, a follow-up analysis on the indirect and direct relationships among these factors is recommended. While there still exist questions to be further investigated on this and related topics, the current study contributes to a more systematic understanding of mobile services, and future studies may extend and rene our ndings by addressing these limitations. References
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