My Smart Speaker is Cool! Perceived Coolness, Perceived Values, and Users’ Attitude toward Smart Speakers

ABSTRACT

Although smart speakers are widely accepted by consumers today, especially in developed countries such as the United States (US), few marketing-focused empirical studies on smart speakers have been conducted. To address this gap in the literature, the current study aims to explore the effects of perceived coolness on consumers’ attitudes toward smart speakers through perceived values (i.e., functional, hedonic, economic, and social value). Data were collected from the current smart speaker users in the US using an online questionnaire. The study employed partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach on 307 validated responses. The SEM analysis showed that perceived coolness, which consisted of four dimensions: perceived functionality, attractiveness, subcultural appeal, and originality, had a positive effect on the functional, hedonic, economic, and social value. The findings further revealed that consumers’ attitude toward smart speakers was influenced by functional, hedonic, and economic value, but not by social value. Additionally, the attitude was found to be a strong predictor of continuance intention. This study is one of the early attempts to explore the current smart speaker users’ attitudes and their intentions to continue using AI-based voice assistants’ devices.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71672025), Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Fund Project (No. 2020JJ27FZ118), Innovation Team Project of DUFE (No. DUFE2017T02).

Notes on contributors

Muhammad Ashfaq

Muhammad Ashfaq is a Ph.D. candidate of Marketing at the School of Business Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, China. He has published papers in the prestigious journals indexed/ranked includes SSCI, ESCI, and Scopus. His research includes consumer behavior, technology adoption, and digital marketing.

Jiang Yun

Jiang Yun is a professor of Strategy and Management at the School of Business Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, China. His main research and teaching fields include strategic management, innovation management, and organization management.

Shubin Yu

Shubin Yu is an assistant professor at Peking University HSBC Business School. His papers have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Electronic Commerce Research.