Why can't IoT products be sold? This four-stage study provides the answer.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has penetrated into people's daily lives. Many consumers use IoT products such as smart watches, smart speakers, smart home appliances, and health monitors every day to enhance the comfort of their lives. However, the current penetration rate of IoT in the consumer field is still at a relatively low level. What factors affect consumers' adoption of IoT products (especially consumer IoT products)? Researchers from Gulf University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with researchers from Brazil, Malaysia, Australia, and India, analyzed 138 research results and surveyed 52,000 people from around the world. Based on the survey results of these respondents, they identified the main factors influencing people's use of consumer IoT products. The relevant research results were published in the Journal of Consumer Behavior. Today, let's uncover the factors that affect consumers' adoption of IoT products.

Four - stage IoT product evaluation influencing consumer decision - making

The IoT has brought significant benefits in the consumer field. However, existing research mainly focuses on the technical aspects of the IoT, such as privacy and security issues, often overshadowing the research on the attitudinal and behavioral factors that influence consumer adoption.

The study found that before people decide to use the IoT, they usually think step by step. First, they check whether the device looks interesting (from people's hedonic motivation) and how their friends or the community feel about the product (social influence). Then they examine whether the product is easy to use and actually helpful. After that, many people start to consider their privacy, possible risks, or whether they can trust the company behind the device.

Based on this, the researchers established a four - stage evaluation process for consumers' adoption of IoT products, named initial evaluation, technology acceptance, secondary evaluation, and technology adoption respectively. Through these four - stage evaluations, consumers' dependence on IoT products will continuously increase.

1. Initial evaluation of IoT products

The initial evaluation stage is crucial in the process of consumers' adoption of the IoT. Consumers' inclinations and social backgrounds will affect the initial evaluation of products. This stage involves an intuitive assessment of IoT products, usually shaped by hedonic motivation and social influence, laying the foundation for subsequent technology acceptance.

In terms of hedonic motivation, when people first encounter consumer IoT products, the pleasure or enjoyment they bring goes beyond functional utility and extends to emotional satisfaction. Hedonic motivation is also related to consumers' innovativeness, reflecting their willingness to accept new ideas. Therefore, hedonic motivation will have a positive impact on the ease of use and practicality of the IoT during the first encounter, thus influencing consumers' adoption. In terms of social influence, researchers emphasize the role of the product's social factors in decision - making. Social influence shapes consumers' perceptions and promotes the acceptance of the IoT. Through the dual perspectives of hedonic motivation and social influence, the initial evaluation stage can better understand consumers' initial reactions to the IoT.

2. Technology acceptance of the IoT

This stage evaluates the acceptance of IoT products based on the ease of use and practicality of the technology. This evaluation plays a crucial role in shaping consumers' attitudes towards the IoT and helps determine their willingness to adopt such technology despite potential challenges and concerns.

Ease of use refers to the ease with which consumers can use IoT technology. This is crucial because the difficulty of consumers' interaction with technology significantly affects their overall experience and satisfaction. Research shows that there is a positive correlation between the ease of use and satisfaction of information systems. Easier use of IoT products may help consumers overcome obstacles such as privacy, risk, and trust issues, thus having a positive impact on their evaluation. Practicality refers to the extent to which consumers find that using the technology can improve performance. In the field of the IoT, the actual benefits of connected devices greatly affect consumers' lifestyles and work efficiency, and are also the key to their satisfaction and continuous use.

3. Secondary evaluation

This stage focuses on evaluating the privacy, risk, and trust issues related to the IoT. At this stage, consumers will weigh the potential disadvantages and benefits of adopting IoT technology.

Due to extensive data collection and connection, privacy issues are crucial in the IoT. Consumers often weigh the utility of IoT devices against the risks of monitoring and data abuse. Greater privacy concerns will lead to a poorer attitude towards adopting the IoT. Risk is an obstacle to IoT adoption, including consumers' perceptions of uncertainty and potential negative consequences. These risks include health and safety issues. Trust includes the belief that the technology and the provider will act responsibly rather than exploit vulnerabilities to violate consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

4. Technology adoption

The final stage revolves around the adoption of the IoT, characterized by the relationship between attitudes and intentions towards the IoT. It is a key step in translating cognitive and emotional evaluations into final acceptance.

Behavioral intention refers to an individual's readiness to perform a certain behavior and is a direct precursor to action. This stage summarizes the climax of the adoption process, in which the interaction of various cognitive and emotional factors is concretized into a clear tendency to support or oppose the adoption of the IoT.

In addition to the above four stages, factors such as consumers' experience level, brand influence, product type, environment, age, and gender also have an important impact on the adoption of IoT products.

The consumer IoT is creating a huge market space. As an important part of the current intelligent consumer market, it is constantly changing people's daily habits. Taking smart homes as an example, according to data from the internationally renowned market research institution Statista, the market size of smart homes reached $154 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $250 billion by 2029. Increasing the usage rate of the consumer IoT and exploring this large - scale market are major challenges faced by various IoT manufacturers.

Statista believes that basic conditions such as the number of Internet users, broadband subscribers, smartphone users, and network speed are important prerequisites for the adoption of smart homes. However, the current penetration rate of smart homes is still at a relatively low level. The global penetration rate of smart homes in households was 18.89% in 2024 and is expected to reach 33.2% by 2028. In China, the number of Internet users, broadband subscribers, smartphone users, and network speed are at a leading level. In particular, the number of Internet users has exceeded 1 billion, laying a foundation for the popularization of smart homes.

Consumers' adoption of IoT products is determined by comprehensive and heterogeneous factors. As mentioned in the previous content of this article, through the four stages of initial evaluation, technology acceptance, secondary evaluation, and technology adoption, consumers finally make a purchase decision on IoT products. It shows that to help people accept the IoT, products must be simple, safe, and truly useful. IoT product companies must also protect privacy and build more trust.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Internet of Things Think Tank" (ID: iot101), author: Zhao Xiaofei, published by 36Kr with authorization.