Adoption of Smart Homes in the UK: Customers’ Perspective

A smart home, also referred to as connected homes, is a house equipped with sensors that enable its occupants to remotely control home devices and appliances. Smart homes have security benefits, health benefits and allows its user to manage energy efficiently. However, despite the numerous benefits of smart home devices, the number of people using smart homes devices in the UK is low. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the factors that affect the adoption rate of smart homes in the UK from the customer’s perspective using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model. A quantitative research method was employed for this study and primary data was collected by snowball sampling through an online survey. 53 responses were collected and analysed using appropriate software. Findings show that the UTAUT constructs (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions) influence the behavioural intention of customers to adopt smart homes as well as the actual level of usage. A regression analysis was also carried out to check the influence of moderating factors like the age, gender and smart home awareness on the developed UTAUT model.