Are households ready to engage with smart home technology?

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes new knowledge regarding consumers’ preparedness for smart home technology adoption. This research bridges together three important frameworks – the technology readiness index (TRI) 2.0, consumer engagement, and perceived risk and trust – to understand consumers’ intentions to adopt smart home technology. We examine both direct and indirect effects, with results demonstrating the model explains 77% variance of consumers’ imagined engagement with smart home technology and 74% variance of intentions to adopt; hence, our model has greater predictive power than others proposed in the literature. Theoretically and managerially, we demonstrate a new pathway to consumers’ adoption of smart home technology in two ways. First, we depict the impact of consumers’ general perceptions of technology (TRI) on opinions and imagined engagement experiences with smart home technology. Second, we show how opinions and imagined experiences with smart home technology impact their intentions to adopt.

KEYWORDS:

• Smart home technology
• technology readiness index
• consumer engagement
• perceived risk
• trust

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge CitySmart as our project partner. This study received funding from Energy Consumers Australia Limited (www.energyconsumersaustralia.com.au) as part of its grants process for consumer advocacy projects and research projects for the benefit of consumers of electricity and natural gas. The views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of Energy Consumers Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rory Mulcahy

Dr. Rory Mulcahy is Lecturer in Marketing at the USC Business School, University of the Sunshine Coast (USC). Rory's research investigates the use of gamification, serious games and digital technologies to assist consumer wellbeing. His work has appeared in journals such as Psychology and Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Theory and Practice, Journal of Services Marketing, and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services amongst others.

Kate Letheren

Dr Kate Letheren is a researcher in the Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology at QUT. She is an active researcher in the areas of consumer psychology and service interactions, with a specific focus on how consumers engage with humanised technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics. Her work has been published in journals such as the European Journal of Marketing and Tourism Management. Dr Letheren also holds a research interest in marketing education, and sits on the editorial board for the Journal for the Advancement of Marketing Education and the Marketing Education Review. Dr Letheren is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Ryan McAndrew

Ryan McAndrew is a post-doctoral research fellow in the School of Business at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Ryan’s research is focused on behavioural change in a variety of areas including household energy efficiency, food poverty and insecurity, community engagement and stewardship in waterways, alcohol moderation, and natural disaster preparedness. He has worked on multiple projects engaging with government, industry, and non-profit stakeholders. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences.

Charmaine Glavas

Dr Charmaine Glavas is a Senior Lecturer at the QUT Business School. Her research interests lie in examining technology adoption amongst individuals and firms. In addition, her research focuses on advancing growth for individuals and firms operating in high-technology environments, which transcend domestic boarders. Her research is trans-disciplinary, integrating concepts from the domains of international business, entrepreneurship and international marketing. Dr Glavas has published her work in top-tier international journals, including: International Marketing Review, International Business Review, Educational Research Review, Journal of International Entrepreneurship, and International Journal of Tourism Research. Dr Glavas is a mixed-methodologist, with particular expertise in the design and implementation of qualitative research methods such as co-design and multiple case study inquiry.

Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett is the deputy director of the QUT centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology.  Her research draws on behaviour change frameworks  where she uses technology to create scalable, cost-effective yet tailored solutions for social problems such as educational disadvantage, alcohol use and overconsumption of resources. She is a global leader in shaping the debate and impact of social marketing as a behaviour change approach.