Evaluating the Role of Trust in Adoption: A Conceptual Replication in the Context of Open Source Systems

This study is a conceptual replication of the Chandra, Srivastava, & Theng (2010) study on the role of trust in adopting a unique type of technology. Whereas Chandra et al. focused on mobile payment systems, we apply their theoretical model to the context of adopting open source software (OSS). Results are largely consistent and comparable with those of the original model; we also found that user trust plays a vital role in OSS adoption intention. However, two of the hypotheses had significantly different results in our model when compared to the original—specifically, perceived reputation did not have a significant impact on trust in the technology, and trust had a more powerful effect on the perceived usefulness of the technology. We argue that users’ expectations regarding trust are different depending on the type of technology that a user intends to adopt.