User acceptance of smart home voice assistant: a comparison among younger, middle-aged, and older adults

Abstract

Voice assistants are widely used in smart home environments. This study aimed to investigate user acceptance of a smart home voice assistant. A questionnaire was designed, and 471 Chinese adults were recruited to complete the questionnaire. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. The results revealed that user requirements of adults were composed of six factors: hedonic motivation and trust ( β = .41, p < .001), social influence ( β = .22, p < .001), performance expectancy ( β = .15, p < .001), effort expectancy ( β = .08, p = .018), product features ( β = .15, p = .009), and facilitating conditions ( β = .06, p = .049). Among these six factors, hedonic motivation and trust are considered the most important. Younger, middle-aged, and older adults differed significantly in their requirements and acceptance of a smart home voice assistant. These findings have implications for the design of smart home voice assistants so that they are more acceptable to younger and older adults. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10209-022-00936-1.

Factors influencing older adults’ acceptance of voice assistants

“…Consequently, older adults may be inclined to embrace VAs due to their perception of VAs as valuable and convenient technologies. Furthermore, results also showed a positive impact of perceived enjoyment on behavioral intention, which was consistent with previous research on VAs ( Nguyen et al, 2018 ; Zhong et al, 2022 ). As older adults perceive time as limited, they prioritize emotional satisfaction over other goals ( Carstensen, 1995 ), and positive user emotions and experiences contribute to their acceptance of the product.…”

“…This study categorized the factors influencing the acceptance of VAs among older adults into VAs product characteristics and personal characteristics of older adults. Consistent with previous research, it was observed that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and technological self-efficacy significantly affected behavioral intention ( Nguyen et al, 2018 ; Song et al, 2022 ; Zhong et al, 2022 ). However, there were several differences between the model created and the results produced by existing research.…”

“…The result showed that perceived usefulness positively influenced behavioral intention, consistent with previous studies on the acceptance of VAs ( Song et al, 2022 ; Zhong et al, 2022 ), indicating that older adults who perceived the benefits of VAs are more likely to have a higher intention to adopt them. Consequently, older adults may be inclined to embrace VAs due to their perception of VAs as valuable and convenient technologies.…”

“…The result showed that perceived usefulness positively influenced behavioral intention, consistent with previous studies on the acceptance of VAs (Song et al, 2022;Zhong et al, 2022), indicating…”

“…Meta-analyses have shown positive effects of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on behavioral intention ( Zhou et al, 2020 ; Ma et al, 2021 ). Previous studies have extensively considered the influence of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on VAs acceptance ( Nguyen et al, 2018 ; Song et al, 2022 ; Zhong et al, 2022 ). Given the significant advantages of VAs compared to other technologies, such as natural and simple interactions that can support independent living among older adults ( Song et al, 2022 ), we expect that the practical benefits and convenience will positively influence older adults’ behavioral intention to use VAs.…”