Influencing Factors on Student’s Willingness to Embrace Cloud Computing: An Empirical Study in Sri Lanka

Cloud computing is an important factor in the realm of information technology; however, its adoption by individual users and students remains insufficient. This paper examines the elements that affect students’ intention to use cloud services, addressing a gap in the literature that predominantly focuses on business customers. A structured questionnaire was given to 347 respondents in order to test a model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Descriptive analysis, principal component analysis, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were employed to infer the results. The findings indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitudes toward cloud computing all exert a direct influence on students' intention to utilize cloud computing. It was found that behavioral intention was indirectly influenced by perceived ease of use, perceived transferability of computer skills, and trust in cloud computing providers. Additionally, perceived risk was directly affected by concerns related to vendor lock-in and security. Attitudes toward cloud computing were directly shaped by perceived usefulness, which, in turn, was indirectly influenced by ease of use, transferability of computer skills, and trust in providers. Furthermore, the results suggest that perceived usefulness acted as a fully mediating variable, whereas attitudes toward cloud computing served as only a partial mediator. As policy implications, the paper suggests that academic policies should enhance students' intention to adopt cloud services by emphasizing the practical benefits of cloud computing, enhancing user-friendliness, promoting digital literacy, ensuring data security and transparency, and fostering positive attitudes toward cloud technologies.