Harris Interactive, a UK-based research agency, reports that just one in 20 (5%) UK consumers say they would definitely own a smart home system, compared to one in five (19%) who definitely would not, citing a lack of trust of their current service providers to deliver a system that would enable them to control, and therefore reduce, their consumption at the touch of a button.
The research, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of UK consumers, also found that the majority of consumers (74%) are not aware Smart Home technology is already available, almost a third (31%) believe it will take at least five years or more to develop, while almost one in ten (9%) do not believe a Smart Home System will ever become a reality.
Consumers did cite saving money on household bills as a key priority however – half of respondents (50%) would be happy to source all services from the same provider if it made financial sense and a similar proportion (52%) identify saving money as a reason to manage their household’s energy consumption more effectively.
Lee Langford, Research Director at Harris Interactive, commented, “Service providers and others that want to operate in the smart tech space have some way to go to educate and convince the general public of the potential benefits. This is still a very open field and the most trusted providers are more likely to be successful in the long term.”
Further findings from the study include:
- Saving time is not enough to convince consumers of the benefits of Smart Home Systems, with less than a third (31%) willing to consider using any services that will save them time.
- Technological innovations per se are not of particular importance to consumers, with just one in five (21%) citing this as a priority.
- Much the same as in their home, the majority of consumers do not use connected devices or apps to monitor their health and wellbeing, with three-fifths (62%) not actively using the technology, compared to less than a fifth (17%) that use them regularly.
The report is part of Harris Interactive’s Customer Power series providing brands with competitor benchmarking trends and insights about customer relationships and experiences.
Harris Interactive