‘Fear’ to drive smart home adoption as consumers turn to service providers

The emerging smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) category will give installers and resellers a huge selling opportunity, reveals a new report.

The Argus Insights report has found that consumers will turn to service providers to set up smart connected devices in their home and office, in favour of attempting to set them up themselves.

And one of the biggest reasons for this demand will be the fear of making sure products like smart CCTV systems are installed correctly.

"While some people enjoy the challenge of setting up their own devices, our data shows that delight comes when the consumer is relying on service providers – at least for now – to do all the installations and connecting,” said John Feland, CEO at Argus Insights.

“The continued dominance of Vivint, and significant improvements by Xfinity demonstrate the impact of proactively engaging with customers on improving the user experience."

Feland added: "We see smart home adoption being driven by three factors: Fear, fun and function.

"For service providers, ‘the fear factor’ drives home security as the key reason for purchase and use. DIY consumers blend function and fear, with climate control being typically the gateway smart home experience."

Argus added in a statement: "The smart home market holds out the possibility of being a game changer with a world of helpful promises made by HomeKit, Nest, Vivint, Philips and others. But bridging the gap in satisfaction between device and continued use through applications has been rough going. I

"In the new Smart Home 360 report, Argus Insights reveals that there is a strong distinction between consumer perception of the apps associated with the most popular Smart Home Service Providers and MSOs (Multiple System Operators) and the apps coming with DIY devices."

In its analysis, Argus Insights found that from over 56,000 app and device reviews, ADT and Suddenlink are the least liked of MSOs and service providers and their associated apps saw a drop in both the tone and volume of feedback over the last month.

Last week, Context’s UK country manager Jonathan Wagstaff spoke about the smart home market at the PCR Boot Camp conference. Check out our Boot Camp 2016 roundup here.

You can check out the full Argus Insights Smart Home 360 Report on the Argus Insights website.