The Spy Who Saves Me: Can Emergency Detection Capabilities in a Smart Home Environment Outweigh Data Usage Concerns?

Authors

Melina Schleef, Bielefeld UniversityFollow
Timo S. Rademacher, Leibniz University HannoverFollow
Christian Stummer, Bielefeld UniversityFollow

Paper Number

1213

Abstract

Although the majority of fatal accidents occur at home, most existing smart home environments lack emergency detection capabilities. Consumers’ reservation regarding such a functionality might be rooted in the extent of sensitive data that would be directly collected from within their homes. In our research, we investigate the circumstances under which the perceived benefit gained from the emergency detection capabilities of smart homes outweighs data usage concerns. To this end, we conducted a 2×2 between-subjects online experiment using a smart robot vacuum cleaner. Our findings suggest that advertising the robot’s emergency detection capability needs to be accompanied by the manufacturer’s explicit promise that data usage is limited to the purpose of emergency detection (and cleaning) only. This contributes to a better understanding of the drivers of and barriers to the adoption of innovations in an unconventional use context.

Comments

Paper Number 1213

Recommended Citation

Schleef, Melina; Rademacher, Timo S.; and Stummer, Christian, "The Spy Who Saves Me: Can Emergency Detection Capabilities in a Smart Home Environment Outweigh Data Usage Concerns?" (2022). PACIS 2022 Proceedings. 114.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2022/114