School of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 8158540, Japan.
School of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Mar 13;21(6):2037. doi: 10.3390/s21062037.
Contemporarily, almost all the global IT giants have aimed at the smart home industry and made an active strategic business layout. As the early-stage and entry-level product of the voice-enabled smart home industry, the smart speakers have been going through rapid development and rising fierce market competition globally in recent years. China, one of the most populous and largest markets in the world, has tremendous business potential in the smart home industry. The market sales of smart speakers in China have gone through rapid growth in the past three years. However, the market penetration rate of related smart home devices and equipment still stays extremely low and far from mass adoption. Moreover, the market sales of smart speakers have also entered a significant slowdown and adjustment period since 2020. Chinese consumers have moved from early impulsive consumption to a rational consumption phase about this early-stage smart home product. Trust in the marketing field is considered an indispensable component of all business transactions, which plays a crucial role in adopting new technologies. This study explores the influencing factors of Chinese users' perceived trust in the voice-enabled smart home systems, uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the interaction mechanism between different variables, and establishes a perceived trust model through 475 valid samples. The model includes six variables: system quality, familiarity, subjective norm, technology optimism, perceived enjoyment, and perceived trust. The result shows that system quality is the essential influence factor that impacts all other variables and could significantly affect the perceived trust. Perceived enjoyment is the most direct influence variable affected by system quality, subjective norm, and technology optimism, and it positively affects the perceived trust in the end. The subjective norm is one of the most distinguishing variables for Chinese users, since China has a collectivist consumption culture. People always expect their behavior to meet social expectations and standards to avoid criticism and acquire social integration. Therefore, policy guidance, authoritative opinions, and people with important reference roles will significantly affect consumers' perceived trust and purchase intention. Familiarity and technology optimism are important influential factors that will have an indirect impact on the perceived trust. The related results of this study can help designers, practitioners, and researchers of the smart home industry produce products and services with higher perceived trust to improve consumers' adoption and acceptance so that the market penetration rate of related products and enterprises could be increased, and the maturity and development of the voice-enabled smart home industry could be promoted.
当代，几乎所有的全球 IT 巨头都瞄准了智能家居行业，并积极进行战略业务布局。作为语音智能家居行业的早期和入门级产品，智能音箱近年来在全球范围内经历了快速发展和激烈的市场竞争。中国是全球人口最多、市场最大的国家之一，在智能家居行业具有巨大的商业潜力。过去三年，中国智能音箱的市场销量经历了快速增长。然而，相关智能家居设备和产品的市场渗透率仍然极低，远未达到大规模普及的程度。此外，自 2020 年以来，智能音箱的市场销量也进入了显著的放缓和调整期。中国消费者已经从早期的冲动消费转变为对这种早期智能家居产品的理性消费阶段。信任是所有商业交易不可或缺的组成部分，在采用新技术方面起着至关重要的作用。本研究探讨了中国用户对语音智能家居系统感知信任的影响因素，使用结构方程模型（SEM）分析了不同变量之间的相互作用机制，并通过 475 个有效样本建立了感知信任模型。该模型包括六个变量：系统质量、熟悉度、主观规范、技术乐观主义、感知乐趣和感知信任。研究结果表明，系统质量是影响所有其他变量并能显著影响感知信任的基本影响因素。感知乐趣是受系统质量、主观规范和技术乐观主义影响最直接的变量，最终对感知信任产生积极影响。主观规范是中国用户的最显著区别变量之一，因为中国具有集体主义消费文化。人们总是期望自己的行为符合社会期望和标准，以避免批评和获得社会融合。因此，政策指导、权威意见和具有重要参考作用的人将显著影响消费者的感知信任和购买意愿。熟悉度和技术乐观主义是重要的影响因素，它们将对感知信任产生间接影响。本研究的相关结果可以帮助智能家居行业的设计师、从业者和研究人员生产具有更高感知信任的产品和服务，提高消费者的采用和接受程度，从而提高相关产品和企业的市场渗透率，促进语音智能家居行业的成熟和发展。
