While convenience and comfort are the most commonly touted benefits when it comes to the smart home, the biggest reason consumers adopt the technology is something much more basic: the safety of loved ones.
This and other findings were the result of a study conducted in March 2016 by August Home and Xfinity Home to better understand perceptions of smart home and home security technology in the era of the connected home.
When asked why they would consider adopting smart home technology, 63 percent of consumers said keeping their family safe is their top motivation. As for just how many plan to add smart home technology, our survey shows that 18 percent of respondents said they’d likely buy a new smart home product over the next 12 months, including 56 percent of those who have already installed at least one connected device in their home. And it’s not just a case of the smart home rich getting richer, as 12 percent of those without smart home technology said they were planning on buying a smart home product in the next 12 months, a number which would effectively double smart home ownership within the next year to nearly 30 million households..
The study also showed that motivation for smart home purchase decisions is often dependent on demographics and their related milestones. For example, when asked what life event would inspire them to install a smart home product, respondents between 18 and 29 were most likely to pick moving into a new house as their reason for purchase. They were also more than twice as likely to select the birth of a new baby (14 percent to 7 percent) as a top motivation, compared to those aged 30 to 44. For those in their golden years, a burglary in their neighborhood was the overwhelming first choice (64 percent) when asked which life event would have the biggest impact on their purchase decision.
What smart home devices are they planning on buying? Video is at the at the top of the list with 4 in 10 consumers (40 percent) saying a connected camera would be the product they’d most likely add to their home, followed by a video doorbell (26 percent), connected light bulb (19 percent) and smart lock (13 percent).
This interest in video in the home was a consistent theme that emerged throughout the survey. When asked which device they’d most like as part of a smart home-powered security system, over 63 percent of respondents chose a connected video camera inside or outside the home, while 61 percent of those with a smart home said that a video camera was the device they’d most like to access and control from their smartphone.