Two years on… what do your customers really want now?
As the digital revolution advances, consumer attitudes, beliefs and intentions have continued to evolve. We explore how companies must reimagine the possible to stay ahead in the connected home.
A lot has changed since our first connected home survey. Against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving world, we surveyed over 2,000 consumers to understand their views and intentions to adopt technologies that have the potential to revolutionise the way we live within our homes.
Since the first connected home survey in 2016, buying intentions are gradually improving with around 30% of people (2016 - 14%) planning to purchase a smart device for the home in the next two years. The biggest adopters are likely to be 18-25 year-old aspirational homeowners: 59% of this group have already invested in smart entertainment and 40% in wearables.
However, despite the advances of technology in our daily lives, it seems the majority of consumers (52%) still have no plans to invest in connected home technology. Our data digs deeper to find out the reasons behind this continued consumer reticence.
We’ve highlighted five key areas where we believe the most significant changes have happened and are still to come.
Meet Peter, a traditionalist who is looking to feel safe in his home. Peter is 50 years old and lives with his wife with no dependents in their suburban home.
Peter is hard to convince of the benefits of smart technology, so is attracted mainly to price conscious propositions. He demonstrates a general lack of interest, with little focus on improving his lifestyle. There could be potential for Peter to invest in devices that improve his comfort levels, however the main driver to any purchasing decisions would be based on financial benefit. With very low ownership, willingness to purchase or plans to upgrade, Peter is our least engaged persona.
Meet Pippa, a price-conscious aspirational who is looking to stay on trend. Pippa is 27 years old, single and rents a small apartment in the city with her friends.
Pippa wants to improve her lifestyle and comfort by ensuring she stays up-to-date with technology trends. It is important for Pippa to be first to try these trends, which means she is an early adopter who is keen to experiment with new products. Pippa would mostly trust technology giants and telecoms to install her new technologies. Whilst she understands the benefits of connected homes, she remains price conscious and as such demonstrates the second lowest ownership out of our personas, alongside average willingness to purchase or upgrade in the future. Any purchasing decisions she does make are based on the best financial value, followed by recommendations from friends and influencers.
Meet Paul, a young dad who is looking for convenience and support to run his household and busy life. He is 35 years old, married and has two children. Together with his family, Paul lives in a modern family home in the city.
Paul is attracted by propositions that promote comfort and health, as well as provide entertainment. He is likely to be an early adopter and wants to experiment with new products, whilst remaining a price conscious purchaser. Out of all our personas, Paul demonstrates the highest willingness to purchase and is also most likely to upgrade in the short term. This suggests that he and his family are happy to invest and experiment with technology that has not yet matured yet. However, they rely heavily on the opinions of family and friends before they make purchasing decisions. Paul mostly trust telecoms and technology companies to install his smart technology.
Meet Penny, a tech savvy homeowner who is looking to customise her surroundings. She is 55 years old and has two grown up children. Penny lives on her own in a large terraced house in a suburban area.
Penny is interested in making her home ‘smart’, but likes to research and weigh all the options before making a decision. She became interested in smart home devices after her children gifted her a smart home assistant for Christmas, which surprised her by adding value and entertainment into her daily life. Penny demonstrates the second highest willingness to purchase but lowest willingness to upgrade existing devices, demonstrating that she has purchasing power but is very settled with her views and needs. Penny is primarily looking for devices which promote a comfortable home and is interested in simplifying the way she runs her household, to save time and hassle. Penny trusts telecoms the most to install her devices.