buildings

Article
Smart Home Adoption: The Impact of User Characteristics and
Differences in Perception of Benefits
Soojung Chang and Kyeongsook Nam *

Department of Interior Architecture Design, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract: Despite the various benefits offered by smart homes, they have not yet been widely adopted
by mainstream users. This study was designed to identify user perceptions in the association between
smart home service preference and adoption and to identify factors affecting the adoption and service
preferences of smart homes. In order to achieve the goal of the study, an online survey was conducted
among 400 potential users in the Republic of Korea. The main findings are as follows: First, there
were considerable needs for the services that can support the independent lives of residents, such
as safety and convenience services, among all age groups. Second, the study findings suggested
that those who preferred environmental control service most were more likely to become relatively
active adopters. Third, a significant association between the preference for smart home services
and the intention to use was identified. Finally, the study findings suggested that the number of
service preferences and adoption was not directly proportional. The findings reported in this study
can improve the overall understanding of the process of adopting smart homes, and can provide



important insights into user-centered strategies to promote the adoption of smart home services.



Citation: Chang, S.; Nam, K. Smart Keywords: smart home; technology adoption; service preference; user characteristics; influencing factors
Home Adoption: The Impact of User
Characteristics and Differences in
Perception of Benefits. Buildings 2021,
11, 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/ 1. Introduction
buildings11090393
A smart home is an intelligent environment that supports various activities at home,
such as housework, work, rest, and entertainment. Early smart homes were widely known
Academic Editors: Nikos
for concepts such as home intelligence, ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence, and
A. Salingaros and Isaac
home automation [1–4]. However, they were considered inconvenient new technologies
Guedi Capeluto
due to the cost burden and were limited in their distribution. In contrast, the widespread
use of networks, reduced sensor technology costs, and the popularization of smartphones
Received: 10 July 2021
Accepted: 27 August 2021
have currently reduced consumer resistance to smart homes, and smart home technology
Published: 3 September 2021
is currently drawing attention worldwide due to advances in wired and wireless home
networking, sensing technology, IoT home appliances, machinery and control engineering,
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
and architectural engineering [5,6].
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
Smart homes enhance user convenience through network-connected intelligent tech-
published maps and institutional affil- nologies and services, and advances in smart home technology have also led to the diver-
iations. sification of services that can meet more consumer needs. Despite the various benefits
offered by smart homes, they have not yet been widely adopted by mainstream users [7,8].
In view of this, studies are being conducted to determine the factors influencing the adop-
tion of smart homes in order to identify the demand and expectations of potential users
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.
more clearly.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Prior studies have focused on the needs for smart homes, such as energy management
This article is an open access article
or healthcare [9,10], measured overall user perceptions (e.g., benefits and risks) of the
distributed under the terms and concept of smart homes [8,11], or considered the effect of the technical and functional
conditions of the Creative Commons characteristics of smart homes on adoption [12–15]. In particular, since exploring the
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// needs and expectations of various user types is one effective approach to smart home
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ adoption [16], many studies have measured the impact of user characteristics on adoption,
4.0/). such as gender, age, and experience of use. The common implication of prior studies

Buildings 2021, 11, 393. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11090393 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings

Buildings 2021, 11, 393 2 of 17

was that, first, various factors affect adoption, second, expectations for smart homes vary
depending on users, and third, the effectiveness of factors varies depending on users’
different expectations. Prior studies have validated factors affecting smart home adoption
from the user’s perspective. However, very few studies have considered the impact of
user perceptions of various types of services on adoption [17], especially, identifying user
preferences depending on the types of subdivided services and analyzing the correlation
with adoption.
This study was designed to measure different expectations for smart homes and
determine their impact on adoption. In particular, this study identified intuitive user
preferences for the four standard dimensions of smart home services i.e., convenience,
safety, energy, and healthcare, and analyzed the correlation between service preferences
and adoption. The main research questions were as follows: (1) the type of smart home
services users preferred most, (2) whether service preferences affected the adoption of
smart homes, and (3) what user characteristics were associated with service preferences
and adoption.
The rest of this paper is organized into the following four sections. In Section 2,
a review of the related literature is provided. In Section 3, the research methodology is
explained. In Section 4, the study results are presented and discussed. Finally, Section 5
concludes this paper.

2. Literature Review
2.1. Benefits of Smart Home
Smart homes can improve residents’ quality of life by providing various services that
assist their daily lives. In general, smart home services can be classified into four types:
convenience, security, energy, and healthcare [12,17].
First, convenience services support the lifestyle of residents to increase comfort. As a
typical example, environmental control is the most theoretical and representative smart
home function. Environmental control includes the ability to remotely control or auto-
matically schedule components of the house, such as thermostats, ventilators, lighting
equipment, kitchen appliances, and various household appliances [8,13]. It enables easy
management of residential environments, effectively reducing household labor and pro-
viding comfort for residents.
Second, smart home safety services can assist residents to manage the security of their
homes and prevent accidents. For example, security services detect movements in the
house to identify potential intruders or to warn of open doors and windows [7].
Third, smart homes can effectively reduce the environmental and economic costs of
housing by reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs. Energy management ser-
vices provide residents with information that can reduce energy consumption in the house,
or automatically optimize energy consumption without human intervention [10,12,18–20].
Finally, healthcare services can assist users to manage their health in their daily lives.
The services offer effective management of individual health information through health-
monitoring infrastructure (e.g., a smart thermometer, health data management platform, fall
detection) or detect environmental information which could affect residents’ health, such
as air quality and pollution [21]. Moreover, smart homes can offer solutions to problems
derived from socio-population changes, such as the increase in single households and the
aging population [22–25]. Smart homes are expected to provide vulnerable households
with greater independence and stability, enabling aging at home by monitoring the health
conditions of the elderly, chronically ill, and disabled and automatically reporting unusual
activities [24,26,27].

2.2. Factors Influencing Smart Home Adoption

As the technology cycle develops, technology adoption is increasingly considered
a key issue to be addressed in the innovation of information technology. In order to
increase the usage of innovative technologies by workers in the 1980s, Davis (1989) laid a
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 3 of 17

theoretical basis for specifically measuring the decision factors regarding the adoption of
the technology. Currently, technology adoption theory is being widely used across various
research fields, including intelligent home technology, IoT appliances, smart city services,
and smart homes, as a theoretical basis for identifying and examining users’ intentions to
use new information technologies [28–31].
Research theories have been expanded as various variables that affect the intention
to use information technology have been newly identified in subsequent studies based
on technology adoption theory, which have reported negative or positive effects of the
perception of technology on usage intentions [32,33]. In particular, Kim et al. (2007)
reported that adoption of technology was made to maximize its value and that different
values of technology recognized by the adopter affected behavior [34]. They explained
the adoption process of the technology based on the concept of perceived value that
comprehensively considers both the sacrifices (e.g., technicality, perceived fee) and the
benefits (e.g., usefulness, enjoyment) that accompany the use of the technology.
Despite the innovation and functional advantages of smart homes, there are various
factors that discourage their adoption. The perceived sacrifices of smart home technology,
which typically consist of difficult usability, cost burden, uncertainty about controllability,
and risk awareness of security, are known to affect usage intent [12,35,36].
On the other hand, several studies have identified the effects of positive perceptions
of technology on adoption [37,38]. Attitude has been considered a key factor affecting
information technology adoption [30,39,40]. Likewise, as a form of expectation and attitude
toward technology, preference is known to affect intention to use [41,42]. Positive attitudes
and expectations in smart home adoption research have had a positive impact on intention
to use [14,30,43,44]. Some studies have also reported the impact of different expectations
of the “function” of smart home services on adoption [17,45]. These studies demonstrate
that the effectiveness of factors influencing the adoption process can be controlled by the
type of smart home service.
Other major influencing factors are user characteristics such as age, gender, residential
types, and experience. The expectations and demands for smart homes have been found to
vary depending on the user characteristics [7,45–47]. First, it is known that there are differ-
ences in the perception and needs of smart homes depending on the age of the users [16].
For example, although a smart home can provide a convenient and easy automation system,
most people generally tend to want the system to be under their control rather than be
fully automated or show a concern about the cost of automation [45,48]. On the other
hand, some studies have shown that the elderly population generally tends to respond
positively to most smart devices and sensors associated with health problems. Especially
in the perception of automation, the elderly generally shows a positive attitude [49–51].
Gender differences have also been addressed in many studies. A study by
Yang et al. (2017) showed that females had greater intention to use the smart home services
than males [52]. Shin et al. (2018) revealed that the effect of factors affecting smart home
adoption (e.g., perceived usefulness and compatibility) vary by gender [16], and Nikou
(2019) also found that females are more affected by perceived costs in the smart home
adoption process compared to males [53].
Differences in the level of education have been validated in some studies. It is generally
known that users with higher education tend to pay more attention to the usefulness and
benefits of innovative technologies [17]. Similarly, Shin et al. (2018) found differences
between groups with high education levels and those with low education levels in their
expectations and adoption of smart home devices [16].
However, the impact of income level presents a point of contention in this field of
study. The cost burden of the initial purchase, installation, and maintenance of smart
home services is a major barrier to the adoption of the services [12,26,54]. In particular,
the cost burden caused by the structural changes in the space required for using new
services has been reported to be one of the factors hindering smart home adoption [35]. For
instance, Kim et al. (2017) revealed that the users’ perception that structural and technical
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 4 of 17

infrastructure must be prepared before using smart home services has a significant impact
on the adoption of the services [30]. Overall, the cost burden is a key factor in adoption.
Interestingly, on the other hand, the impact of income levels on the adoption of smart homes
has been supported in very few studies. For example, in the study of Yang et al. (2017),
income levels did not directly affect the adoption of smart homes [52]. Shin et al. (2018)
found an indirect effect of income levels, but it did not reach statistical significance [16].
Additionally, smart home adoption is also affected by the type of housing (e.g., apart-
ment/general home) that users currently reside in. Some studies noted that the needs
and intention to use smart home services vary depending on the type of housing the
respondents live in [47,55]. The researchers speculated that the difference may be due to
different levels of infrastructure in place depending on the type of housing.
Finally, the adoption of technology can be influenced by users’ related experiences [32,
33,56]. Shih and Veatesh (2004) emphasized the effects of experience as one of the factors
that accelerated the diffusion of innovations [57]. In the context of a smart home, likewise,
some studies have confirmed that the user’s relevant experiences affect the expectations
and adoption of smart home services [53,55].
Overall, studies on smart home adoption suggested that there are several cognitive
factors that influence users’ decisions to adopt smart homes and that the process of the
decision may vary depending on the user’s characteristics and background conditions.

3. Research Method
3.1. Research Model and Hypotheses
User expectations for different functions in smart homes are known to affect adoption.
This study assumes the impact of these diverse needs, namely service preferences, on
the adoption of smart homes. The main variables in the research model reflect these
preferences: convenience, safety, energy, and healthcare. The demographic characteristics
Buildings 2021, 11, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 18
of users are also included as control variables. The hypotheses of this study are as follows
(Figure 1):

Figure1.1.Research
Figure Researchmodel
modeland
andhypotheses.
hypotheses.

3.2. Questionnaire Items

Hypothesis 1 (H1). Preference
A questionnaire composedfor convenience services
of three parts waswill positivelytoaffect
developed intentionthe
investigate to use;
factors
influencing smart home service adoption. The first part was background questions con-
Hypothesis 2 (H2). Preference for safety services will positively affect intention to use;
sisting of six general questions about demographic characteristics. In the second part, one
question was used to measure the preferences of smart home services. The question con-
sisted of seven options covering all four types of smart home services: convenience, safety,
energy, and healthcare. The options were selected based on both a targeted literature
search of smart homes [12,14] and case studies about government-led building quality
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 5 of 17

Hypothesis 3 (H3). Preference for energy services will positively affect intention to use;

Hypothesis 4 (H4). Preference for healthcare services will positively affect intention to use.

3.2. Questionnaire Items

A questionnaire composed of three parts was developed to investigate the factors in-
fluencing smart home service adoption. The first part was background questions consisting
of six general questions about demographic characteristics. In the second part, one question
was used to measure the preferences of smart home services. The question consisted of
seven options covering all four types of smart home services: convenience, safety, energy,
and healthcare. The options were selected based on both a targeted literature search of
smart homes [12,14] and case studies about government-led building quality assessment
tools for smart homes in the Republic of Korea, i.e., where the spatial scope of the survey
was conducted to include a familiar category of services for respondents [58]. The options
contained a variety of services, particularly those related to the management of residential
environments. For example, in the case of healthcare services, health data management
platforms stand out in relevant areas but were excluded because they only manage data on
a human body and can be replaced by mobile devices such as smartwatches. The options
also contained a detailed description of each service to help the respondents’ understanding
(Table 1). Especially, in order to induce an intuitive and clear response, respondents were
required to choose only one type of service which they preferred or needed most. In the
third part, the intention to use the service was measured in order to identify respondents’
adoption of smart home services. This part consisted of four questions which were derived
through prior studies [14,30,39,52]. The items were answered using a five-point Likert scale
ranging from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”.

Table 1. Options and descriptions of service preference questionnaire item.

Category Option Description

A service that provides integrated management of house components, such as
Environmental control
Convenience heating, ventilation, and lighting systems.
A service that offers remote residential environment management connected
Remote monitoring anytime, anywhere, such as a remote door or window opener, home camera,
voice-control devices for the home.
A service that identities potential intruders or sends warning notifications to
Visitor monitoring
Safety residents about the open state of doors and windows.
A service that detects gas, electricity, or water leaks and automatically shuts down
Leak detection
the system to prevent accidents.
A service that reduces energy demand either directly or indirectly by monitoring
Energy-saving and
Energy energy consumption and promoting users’ participation in eco-friendly
management
energy utilization.
A service that detects and manages air pollution information and air quality
Air quality monitoring
Healthcare affecting users’ health.
A service that automatically sends an alarm to designated families or facilities if
Emergency call
there is unusual activity for users, such as falls.

3.3. Data Collection

The potential respondents were recruited by a professional survey company in the
Republic of Korea. After giving informed consent, respondents completed and submitted
the anonymous survey online. All respondents were provided with a description of a smart
home before the survey and were given incentives after completing the survey. Response
quality filters were used to eliminate poor responses, e.g., (1) the survey was completed in
a much shorter time than the average, (2) the survey had the same responses recorded for
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 6 of 17

all items, and (3) the survey had incorrect responses for basic panel properties such as age,
gender, and educational levels. Responses that failed to pass the filter were ignored and a
total of 400 surveys were used for the final analysis.
The sample size adequacy was determined using G power ver. 3.1.9.7. Using a
medium effect size of 0.15 [59,60], α = 0.05, power = 0.95, and ten predictor variables (4 in-
dependent variables and 6 control variables), the minimum sample size N was calculated
as 172. The collected survey responses were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics ver. 20.0.

4. Result
4.1. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
The frequency analysis of the respondents’ demographic characteristics and the cross-
analysis results between the variables are shown in Table 2. There was a slightly higher
percentage of female participants, i.e., 46% were male (N = 184) and 54% were female
(N = 216). A total of 37.5% of respondents were 31–40 years old, and almost half of the
participants responded that their average monthly income was between 2 million won and
4 million won. For education level, respondents with bachelor’s degree or graduate degree
accounted for most (81.3%), and 69.3% of the respondents lived in an apartment (N = 277).
The average monthly income of wage earners in the Republic of Korea was 2.97 million
won in 2018 [61], with the college entrance rate reaching 69.7%. In addition, households
living in apartments accounted for 61.4% of all households [62].

Table 2. Demographic characteristics of questionnaire respondents (N = 400, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Cross-Tabulation Analysis (p)

Variable N % Income Education Residential Experience
Age Level of Use
Level Type
Male 184 46.0
Gender Female 216 54.0 <0.05 * <0.001 ***
Under 20 0 0
21–30 91 22.8
Age 31–40 150 37.5 <0.001 ** <0.05 * .
41–50 89 22.3
51 or above 70 17.5
Less than 2 million won 85 21.3
Income 2 million won–4 million won 179 44.8 <0.001 *** <0.01 ** <0.05 *
level 4 million won or more 136 34
Education Up to high school 75 18.8
Bachelor’s degree/graduate degree 325 81.3 <0.01 ** <0.05 *
level
Apartment 277 69.3
Single-family home 50 12.5
Residential Non-
type Studio-apartment 21 5.3
apartment Mixed-use 15 3.8
apartment
Other types 37 9.3
Experience Never experienced 380 95.0
of use Have experience 20 5.0

In terms of the experience of use, only 5% (N = 20) of the participants responded that
they had experiences with smart home services.

4.2. Service Preference

The results of the service preference test are shown in Figure 2. More than half of
respondents (N = 220, 55%) preferred the safety service, which is composed of a leak
detection service (N = 112) and visitor monitoring service (N = 108), and 31.8% (N = 127)
would prefer to use a convenience service. On the other hand, the preference for energy
and healthcare services was only 8.3% (N = 33) and 5% (N = 20).
Buildings 2021,
Buildings 11,11,
2021, x 393
FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 17 8 of 18

2. Results
Figure 2.
Figure Resultsofofthe service
the preference
service test test
preference (N =(N
400).
= 400).

Cross-tabulation analysis was conducted to analyze the frequency distribution of

Cross-tabulation analysis was conducted to analyze the frequency distribution of ser-
service preference by demographic characteristics (Table 3). A chi-square test and Fisher’s
vice preference by demographic characteristics (Table 3). A chi-square test and Fisher’s
exact test were performed to determine the significance of association between the variables.
exact testassociation
First, the were performedbetweentogender
determine the significance
and service preference of was association
statisticallybetween
significantthe varia-
bles.
(p = 0.021). While females preferred safety services most distinctly (62%, N = 134), males’ signifi-
First, the association between gender and service preference was statistically
cant (p = 0.021).
responses showed While femalesbetween
little difference preferred safety
safety services
(46.7%, N = 86)most distinctly (62%,
and convenience (38.6%,N = 134)
males’ responses showed little difference between safety (46.7%, N = 86) and convenience
N = 71) services. Second, residential types were also significantly related to service prefer-
ences (p N
(38.6%, = 0.007). Since apartments
= 71) services. Second, are the mosttypes
residential common weretype of significantly
also housing in therelated
Republic to service
of Korea (Statistics Korea, 2019), which account for more than half of
preferences (p = 0.007). Since apartments are the most common type of housing in the all households, the
other residential types such as a single-family house, studio-apartment, and mixed-use
Republic of Korea (Statistics Korea, 2019), which account for more than half of all house-
apartment, were integrated into one response. A total of 49.8% (N = 138) of respondents
holds, the other residential types such as a single-family house, studio-apartment, and
living in an apartment preferred safety services, followed by 36.1% (N = 100) preference
mixed-use
for convenience apartment,
services.were
On theintegrated
other hand, into
moreone response.
than A respondents
half of the total of 49.8% (Nin= 138) of
living
respondents
non-apartmentliving in anpreferred
properties apartment preferred
safety servicessafety
the most services,
(66.7%, followed
N = 82), and byonly
36.1%22% (N = 100)
preference for convenience
(N = 27) preferred convenienceservices.
services.On the other
In other words,hand, more thanfor
the preference half of the
safety respondents
services
living
was foundin non-apartment properties
to be relatively high preferred
in the group safety
who lived in services the most
non-apartment (66.7%,Third,
properties. N = 82), and
the association
only 22% (N = 27) between experience
preferred of use and
convenience service
services. Inpreference
other words, wasthealso statistically
preference for safety
significant (p = 0.001). More than half of respondents who had never
services was found to be relatively high in the group who lived in non-apartment proper-used smart home
services before preferred safety services most, while 65 percent of respondents who had
ties. Third, the association between experience of use and service preference was also sta-
experience using the services preferred convenience services. The remaining characteristics,
tistically significant (p = 0.001). More than half of respondents who had never used smart
such as age, income level, education level, did not reach statistical significance.
home services before preferred safety services most, while 65 percent of respondents who
had experience
4.3. Factors usingIntention
Influencing the services
to Usepreferred convenience services. The remaining charac-
teristics, such as age, income level,value
As shown in Table 4, the mean education level, didintention
of respondents’ not reachtostatistical
use smart significance.
home
services was 3.8506. The independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Table 3. Cross-tabulation analysis between service
were conducted preferences
to examine and influencing
the factors demographic characteristics
the (N = For
intention to use. 400,the
* p one-way
< 0.05, ** p <
0.01). ANOVA, Dunnett’s T3 test and Scheffe test were applied, as an assumption of equal
variances according to each variable (Table 5).
Variable Convenience Safety Energy Healthcare Total χ2 p
Male 71 (38.6) 86 (46.7) 17 (9.2) 10 (5.4) 184 (100.0)
Gender 9.777 <0.05 *
Female 56 (25.9) 134 (62.0) 16 (7.4) 10 (4.6) 216 (100.0)
21–30 29 (31.9) 50 (54.9) 8 (8.8) 4 (2.7) 91 (100.0)
31–40 56 (37.3) 80 (53.3) 10 (6.7) 4 (2.7) 150 (100.0)
Age 10.953
41–50 22 (24.7) 48 (53.9) 11 (12.4) 8 (9.0) 89 (100.0)
51 or above 20 (28.6) 42 (60.0) 4 (5.7) 4 (5.7) 70 (100.0)
Income level Less than 2 million won 24 (28.2) 53 (62.4) 5 (5.9) 3 (3.5) 85 (100.0) 5.387
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 8 of 17

Table 3. Cross-tabulation analysis between service preferences and demographic characteristics (N = 400, * p < 0.05,
** p < 0.01).

Variable Convenience Safety Energy Healthcare Total χ2 p

Male 71 (38.6) 86 (46.7) 17 (9.2) 10 (5.4) 184 (100.0)
Gender 9.777 <0.05 *
Female 56 (25.9) 134 (62.0) 16 (7.4) 10 (4.6) 216 (100.0)
21–30 29 (31.9) 50 (54.9) 8 (8.8) 4 (2.7) 91 (100.0)
31–40 56 (37.3) 80 (53.3) 10 (6.7) 4 (2.7) 150 (100.0)
Age 10.953
41–50 22 (24.7) 48 (53.9) 11 (12.4) 8 (9.0) 89 (100.0)
51 or above 20 (28.6) 42 (60.0) 4 (5.7) 4 (5.7) 70 (100.0)
Less than
24 (28.2) 53 (62.4) 5 (5.9) 3 (3.5) 85 (100.0)
Income 2 million won
5.387
level 2 million won–4
56 (31.3) 100 (55.9) 16 (8.9) 7 (3.9) 179 (100.0)
million won
4 million won or more 47 (34.6) 67 (49.3) 12 (8.8) 10 (7.4) 136 (100.0)
Education Up to high school 20 (26.7) 43 (57.3) 8 (10.7) 4 (5.3) 75 (100.0)
1.517
level Bachelor’s
degree/graduate 107 (32.9) 177 (54.5) 25 (7.7) 16 (4.9) 325 (100.0)
degree
Residential Apartment 100 (36.1) 138 (49.8) 22 (7.9) 17 (6.1) 277 (100.0)
12.200 <0.01 **
type Non-apartment 27 (22.0) 82 (66.7) 11 (8.9) 3 (2.4) 123 (100.0)
Experience Never experienced 114 (30.0) 217 (57.1) 30 (7.9) 19 (5.0) 380 (100.0)
15.385 <0.01 **
of use Have experience 13 (65.0) 3 (15.0) 3 (15.0) 1 (5.0) 20 (100.0)

First, the effects of demographic characteristics are as follows. For gender, the male
respondents showed a slightly higher intention to use the services than females, but the
difference did not reach statistical significance. Similarly, respondents aged 51 years or
above showed the highest mean intention to use (3.9750). However, it was not statistically
significant. On the other hand, the mean differences depending on income level, education
level, residential type, and experience of use were statistically significant. Respondents
with an average monthly income of less than 2 million won had a lower intention to use
than other groups (3.4588), and income level provided a statistically significant difference
(F = 18.653, p < 0.001). Regarding education level, respondents with lower education levels
had lower intention to use than those with higher education levels (t = −2.334, p < 0.05). It
was also found that people living in apartments had a higher mean intention to use than
those living in non-apartment properties (t = 2.779, p < 0.01). Finally, the mean intention to
use depending on previous experience had a statistically significant difference (t = −4.872,
p < 0.001); thus, the respondents with past experience had a higher mean intention to use
than those without experience.

Table 4. Mean of Intention to use.

Variable Item N Min Max Mean SD

IU 1 Using smart home services will be worthwhile. 400 1 5 3.92 0.878
I would like to use smart home services as much as I
IU 2 400 1 5 3.95 0.997
can from now on.
I will continue using smart home services or expect to
IU 3 400 1 5 3.92 0.904
use smart home services in the future.
IU 4 I will recommend smart home services to others. 400 1 5 3.61 0.935
Intention to use
400 1.25 5.00 3.8506 0.78162
(Mean)
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 9 of 17

Table 5. T-test and ANOVA test results (* p < 0.05, ** p <0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Intention to use
Variable
n Mean SD t p F Post-Hoc Test(p)
Male 184 3.9171 0.81457
Gender Female 216 3.7940 0.74967 1.573
21–30 91 3.7720 0.81959
Age 31–40 150 3.9133 0.76467
41–50 89 3.7275 0.81328 1.970
51 or above 70 3.9750 0.70602
Less than 2 million won (a) 85 3.4588 0.92086 a < b (<0.01 **)
Income level 2 million won–4 million 179 3.8324 0.73428 <0.001 *** 18.653 a < c (<0.001 ***)
won (b) b < c (<0.01 **)
4 million won or more (c) 136 4.1195 0.63023
Up to high school 75 3.6267 0.96157
Education level Bachelor’s −2.334 <0.05 *
325 3.9023 0.72587
degree/graduate degree
Residential type Apartment 277 3.9224 0.76009
Non-apartment 123 3.6890 0.80809 2.779 <0.01 **
Never experienced 380 3.8184 0.77875
Experience of use
Have experience 20 4.4625 0.56356 −4.872 <0.001 ***
Convenience (a) 127 4.1083 0.69550
Safety (b) 220 3.7375 0.77313 a > b (<0.001 ***)
Service preference 1 Energy (c) 33 3.8561 0.77316 <0.001 *** 8.322 a > d (<0.01 **)
Healthcare (d) 20 3.4500 0.98208
Environmental control (a) 74 4.1318 0.62923
Remote monitoring (b) 53 4.0755 0.78383
Service preference Visitor monitoring (c) 108 3.8032 0.78913 a > d (<0.05 *)
Leak detection (d) 112 3.6741 0.75549 <0.001 *** 5.182
(detailed) 2 Energy saving &
a > g (<0.05 *)
33 3.8561 0.77316
management (e)
Air quality monitoring (f) 15 3.6500 0.98107
Emergency call (g) 5 2.8500 0.78262
Homogeneous subset test results: (bcd = 1, abc = 2) 1 , (dfg = 1, abcdef = 2) 2.

Subsequently, the effect of service preferences on the difference in intention to use

was analyzed. First, the mean differences between the four types of smart home services
were statistically significant (F = 8.322, p < 0.001). The mean of the group that preferred
the convenience service most was the highest at 4.1083 and showed statistically signifi-
cant differences from the mean of safety (3.7375) and healthcare (3.4500). Additionally,
seven types of detailed services also significantly affected the intention to use (F = 5.182,
p < 0.001). The respondents who preferred an environmental control service showed the
highest intention to use (4.1318), while those who preferred the emergency call service had
the lowest mean (2.8500). A posthoc Scheffe test was conducted to identify specific differ-
ences between group means. The results indicated that there are significant differences
between environment control, leak detection, and emergency calls. Furthermore, subsets of
homogeneous groups using Scheffe’s method showed some interesting differences across
service preferences. For example, healthcare and convenience formed different homoge-
nous groups. Moreover, an emergency call was also separated into different homogeneous
groups from visitor monitoring, energy-saving and management, remote monitoring, and
environmental control. Intention to use depending on service preferences showed a sta-
tistically significant difference. In other words, the groups that preferred convenience
services, especially environmental control services, tended to be more willing to use the
services, while those who prefer healthcare services, especially emergency call services,
were relatively less willing to use them.

4.4. Regression Analysis

A regression analysis was performed to test the hypothesis. Prior to the regression,
a reliability analysis was conducted for the dependent variables consisting of multiple
scales. For reliability, the internal consistency reliability was examined based on Cronbach’s
alpha, and its value was measured at 0.861. In general, a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.6 or higher
can be considered to represent internal consistency [63] and indicates that the reliability of
the results is relatively high.
For the autocorrelation of the dependent variables, the Durbin-Watson statistic was
used, in which a value between 1–3 is generally deemed to satisfy the independence
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 10 of 17

assumption [64]. The Durbin-Watson value of the regression model was 2.007, thereby
meeting this criterion. For multicollinearity, the variance inflation factors (VIFs) were less
than 10, indicating that multicollinearity was not a concern.
To test the hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed to study the
effects of service preferences on intention to use after controlling for demographic charac-
teristics. Before performing regression analysis, all categorical variables were converted
into dummy variables. For analyzing income level, the group was divided into two with
respect to a monthly average of 2 million won, which showed the clearest difference in the
mean intention to use in this study (Table 5). In addition, for service preference variables,
among the four types of services, the convenience service preference, which recorded the
highest mean intention to use (Table 5), was considered as a reference group. The results
of the hierarchical regression analysis on the effects of demographic characteristics and
service preferences on the intention to use are reported in Table 6.
Model 1 examined the effects on intention to use by employing demographic char-
acteristics as the control variables. Model 2 examined whether and how the independent
variables affect the intention to use by controlling for exogenous variables after inputting
the service preferences as independent variables. The results of Model 1 indicated that
the variance accounted for R2 with the control variable (demographic characteristics) was
0.116 (adjusted R2 = 0.097), which was statistically significant (∆F = 6.387, p < 0.001). Next,
in Model 2, the change in variance accounted for ∆R2 was 0.04, which was a statistically
significant increase in variance (∆F = 6.097, p < 0.001). In other words, the explanatory
power of the model increased significantly by about 4%, and it was statistically signifi-
cant for the independent variables to explain the dependent variables after inputting the
control variables.
The results of Model 1 indicated the impact of demographic characteristics as control
variables on the intention to use. Two of the demographic characteristics, income levels,
and experience of use, were statistically significant. In other words, relatively low-income
levels had a negative effect on the intention to use, while the experience of previous use
had a positive effect on the intention to use.

Table 6. The results of regression analysis (* p < 0.05, ** p <0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Model 1 Model 2
Variable
B β t p VIF B β t p VIF
(constant) 3.894 31.684 <0.001 *** 4.153 29.355 <0.001 ***
Gender 0.058 0.037 0.758 1.052 0.020 0.013 0.265 1.078
(Male)
Age
−0.048 −0.026 −0.396 1.890 −0.076 −0.041 −0.632 1.902
(21–30)
Age
−0.039 −0.024 −0.353 2.034 −0.076 −0.047 −0.702 2.049
(31–40)
Age
−0.233 −0.124 −1.954 1.788 −0.219 −0.116 −1.858 1.805
(41–50)
Income level −0.423 −0.222 −4.342 <0.001 *** 1.154 −0.427 −0.224 −4.459 <0.001 *** 1.156
(Less than 2 million won)
Education level −0.131 −0.066 −1.325 1.082 −0.124 −0.062 −1.271 1.086
(Up to high school)
Residential types
0.142 0.084 1.721 1.053 0.118 −0.070 1.436 1.082
(Apartment)
Experience of use
0.475 0.133 2.727 <0.01 ** 1.044 0.387 0.108 2.232 <0.05 * 1.077
(Have experience)
Service Safety −0.283 -0.181 −3.345 <0.01 ** 1.339
preference Energy −0.213 −0.075 −1.478 1.180
Healthcare −0.626 −0.175 −3.535 <0.001 *** 1.124
R2 0.116 0.155
adj.R2 0.097 0.131
∆R2 0.116 0.040
∆F(p) 6.387 (<0.001) 6.097 (<0.001)
Durbin-Watson: 2.007; Reference group: Gender * Female, Age * 51 or above, Income level * 2 million won or more, Education level
* Bachelor’s degree/graduate degree, Residential types * Non-apartment, Experience of use * Never experienced, Service Preference
* Convenience.
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 11 of 17

The results of Model 2 reported that while service preferences had statistically signifi-
cant effects on the intention to use, preferences for energy services did not reach statistical
significance. In other words, H1, H2, and H4 were supported whereas H3 was rejected.
Furthermore, the results of Model 2 indicated the relative impacts of service preferences on
intention to use after controlling for demographic characteristics. For example, the unstan-
dardized coefficient (B) of the regression model of safety service preferences and healthcare
service preferences, which had secured statistical significance, were both recorded neg-
atively. This suggests that convenience service preference, a reference group of service
preference variables injected into the regression model, had the greatest impact on intention
to use.

4.5. Discussion
This study identified the impact of smart home service preferences on intention to
use. Of the four constructs of smart home services, convenience, safety, and healthcare
influenced adoption, and the intention to use differed significantly depending on the type
of service preferences.
These results suggest that identifying preferences for different types of services is
effective in predicting the adoption of services. While the preference for safety services was
the highest in the overall response, intention to use was highest for the group that preferred
environmental control services, which ranked third in the overall preference assessment.
This means that those who prefer and want to use environmental control services most
are more likely to become relatively active adopters. On the other hand, the group that
preferred healthcare, especially the emergency call service, showed they were less willing
to use the service. Therefore, it was assumed that this group was sensitive to price, or did
not believe they needed the service despite being aware of the importance of it.
Another type of factor identified that affects preferences and intentions to use smart
home services was the demographic characteristics. First, gender affected service prefer-
ences. Female respondents were found to have a higher demand for safety in residential
environments than males. On the other hand, the intention to use was slightly higher
among male respondents, but not significant, which was different from prior studies that
found the impact of gender on the adoption of smart homes [16,52].
Second, age did not affect either service preferences or intention to use, which is
a remarkable result. Safety services were most preferred among all age groups, with
no significant difference in intention to use over the ages. Many studies have focused
on the elderly population as a major beneficiary of the automated technology of smart
homes, and smart home research has generally focused on healthcare services for the
elderly [23,49,50]. However, the results of this study show that there are considerable needs
for other aspects of services that can support the independent lives of residents, such as
safety and convenience, among all age groups. Therefore, future smart home adoption
studies, especially those for the elderly, will have to consider both the various functions
and needs of housing.
Third, both income and education levels have significant effects on the intention to
use, while the preference was not affected. Respondents with low-income levels showed
relatively low intention to use, and the result would support existing studies that reported
the impact of the cost burden on the adoption of smart homes [12,35]. In addition, the results
of this study have re-examined the significant impact of education levels on adoption,
which have only been addressed in some studies [16].
Fourth, residential type has been considered only in some prior studies as an influenc-
ing factor in the adoption of smart homes. However, this study supported the findings of
previous studies as the effects of residential type on both service preferences and intention
to use were verified [16,55]. The study findings showed that respondents living in apart-
ments had a relatively high preference for convenience services compared to respondents
living in non-apartment properties, and their intention to use was also relatively high.
These results suggest that the adoption behavior of smart homes can be affected by the
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 12 of 17

physical environment characteristics such as the environmental and system infrastructure

in which users reside. In other words, considering the conditions of the residential environ-
ment of the target user would be a valid design strategy to promote the adoption of smart
home services.
Another factor supporting existing studies was the significant impact of experience
on adoption. Since experience has been treated as a major influencing factor in terms of
acceptance of innovative technologies, this result supports prior studies [33,57]. In addition,
respondents who have experience of use tended to prefer convenience services over safety
services. This result indicates that experienced respondents would have more strongly
recognized and noted the effects of convenience services than safety services, compared
with inexperienced respondents.
Demographic classification according to service preferences provides new insight for
adoption research. For example, although the largest number of respondents expressed
preferences for safety services, this preference had less of an impact on the intention to
use than those with a preference for convenience services. These results show that the
“amount” of preference for services is not directly related to the intention to use. In other
words, the “most” preferred services are not necessarily the most adopted. This is in the
same vein as the findings of Van Dijk et al. (2008), who found a gap between the preference
of government Internet services and the actual usage of the services [42]. There are many
potential causes for this. One obvious reason is that respondents have different service
preferences depending on their demographic characteristics.
The demographic characteristics that most clearly affected the intention to use were
shown by income levels and experience (Table 6). Cross-analysis of service preferences also
showed that those with no experience of use had the highest preference for safety services,
and those with usage experience have the highest preference for convenience services
(Table 5). In other words, those without service experience felt that safety services were
the most attractive, but expressed relatively low intention to use, while the convenience
services preferred by the majority of respondents with service experience had the most
positive impact on the intention to use. In particular, the results of ANOVA analysis
showed the difference in intention to use between leak detection service preference and
environmental control service preference. Similarly, residential types significantly affected
service preferences and intention to use. Respondents who preferred safety services had
a high proportion of non-apartment dwellers, and the mean intention to use by non-
apartments dwellers was significantly lower (p = 0.006).
Another possible reason for the gap between the preference and intention to use is
the effects of respondents’ perceived comprehensive value judgments. Some studies on
the adoption of information technology have reported that perceived sacrifices have a
greater impact on adoption than perceived benefits [34,38]. That is, it can be assumed that
respondents would have hesitated to adopt smart home services because the perceived
sacrifices had a greater impact than the preference for smart home services. For this study,
in-depth consideration will be required regarding the impact of income level, one of the
factors that have formed a significant relationship with intention to use. Income levels
formed a significant association with other demographic characteristics, such as gender,
age, education levels, residential types, and experience (Table 2). In addition, relatively
low-income levels were associated with relatively little experience, and the proportion
of respondents living in non-apartment housing was high in groups of respondents with
low-income levels. As mentioned above, both experience and residential types were factors
that significantly affect preferences and intention to use. Thus, the results of this study
suggest the need for in-depth research into the indirect effects of income levels on the
service preferences, intention to use, and the comprehensive value-judging process of smart
home adoption.
In conclusion, while the significant effects of some factors (e.g., education level,
residential type, experience, preference) on smart home adoption is in line with the existing
literature, the effects of other factors (e.g., gender, age, income level) were somewhat
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 13 of 17

different from the existing literature. The findings of this study can not only improve the
overall understanding of the process of adopting smart homes by verifying differences in
adoption and preferences by user characteristics but also present a user-centered strategy to
promote adoption. For example, respondents living in apartments and having experience
in smart home service use had a relatively high preference for convenience services and
a high willingness to use them. In other words, convenience services are likely to be
recognized effectively by apartment dwellers or users with relatively high technology
levels. In particular, since respondents who preferred convenience services had the highest
intention to use, strategies to actively target these users are required to promote smart
home adoption. On the other hand, it is also noteworthy that females preferred safety
services the most, although gender did not have a direct impact on the intention to use.
In other words, the findings may suggest that safety services are more likely to be chosen
by females.
Furthermore, the results of this study suggest that discussions on the digital divide
should be carried out in smart home adoption research. Van Dijk et al. (2008) noted
that the significant impacts of preference and experience on the adoption of information
technology-based services indicate that the problem of a digital divide is significant [42].
The dissemination of smart home technology can provide welfare to vulnerable residents,
promote social participation, and ultimately realize environmental, economic, social sus-
tainability and innovation at the urban level. Since the main benefits of smart homes are in
close contact with ensuring the independent lives and safety of the vulnerable, the findings
of this study can provide inspiration to improve accessibility for the users who are alienated
from the benefits of technology. Factors that can cause a digital divide might include expe-
rience and technical skills, availability of spatial/technical infrastructure, and affordability.
Likewise, some studies suggested that technology affordability, network infrastructure
availability, residents’ education level, income level, and cost burden should be considered
at national or urban levels to facilitate the adoption of smart home technologies [65,66]. The
results of this study indicate the need for policies and strategies to maintain the adoption of
smart homes and enhance technology innovation. Therefore, making smart home services
accessible to a wide range of users, especially those with low-wage, low-educated, and
low-technical levels, should be the first step in promoting adoption. One example is to
reduce costs through joint purchases or to provide pre-experience opportunities for services
preferred by target users, generally safety services.

5. Conclusions and Limitation

Although the supply of smart home services is expanding, actual usage promotion is
still small. This phenomenon could be described as the result of the comprehensive impact
of users’ perceptions, attitudes, experiences, and personal characteristics on the adoption
of technology. From this perspective, this study validated how demographic characteristics
and preferences of potential users influence the adoption of smart home services. The
results of this study confirmed the impact of gender, residential type, and experience
on service preferences and the impact of income level, education level, residential type,
experience, and service preference on the adoption.
The findings of the present study provide both theoretical and practical implications.
From a theoretical perspective, this study presents an improved comprehension of the
process of adopting a smart home, by identifying the impacts of preference for different
types of smart home services on the adoption. Moreover, the findings of the study offer
insight and new issues on smart home adoption for future research. For example, while
prior research was actively focused on energy efficiency in house and health care for the
elderly, this study validated considerable demands for safety and convenience services
that do not differ depending on age.
This study presented a demographic classification according to the adoption and
preference of smart home services. A general conclusion that can be derived from this
study is that the adoption of smart home services should be analyzed based on a detailed
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 14 of 17

understanding of the target users for each service type. Based on the delicate classification
of the service contents that might affect adoption, future research that deals with type-
specific comparisons based on granular service types need to be followed, rather than
combining smart home services into a single concept.
The study also suggests that smart home adoption can be associated with complex
social phenomena such as income inequality. The Republic of Korea is known to have a rel-
atively high penetration rate of information infrastructure. However, this study suggested
that demographic characteristics could create various gaps in smart home adoption. This
is not much different from the results of previous studies of smart technology adoption in
developing countries with relatively low penetration of information infrastructure [65,66].
From a practical perspective, this study presents an example of adoption tendencies
of smart home services in a housing context. In particular, the findings of the study can
equip service providers and related industries, such as IT, engineering, and architecture,
with useful information for designing effective services and selecting appropriate target
users. For example, setting up a group of women, non-apartment residents, and inexperi-
enced users as the primary target users of safety services, and controlling the direct and
indirect impact of expected adoption inhibitors such as income levels, residential types,
and experience might be a strategy that can increase service adoption.
Despite these contributions, there are some limitations of this study. First, the present
study did not consider the interrelationship between demographic characteristics in testing
the hypothesis. For example, demographic characteristics such as gender, income level,
and education level are generally known to be closely related to each other. Therefore,
precise verification of the independent effects of each characteristic will have to be followed
by controlling for the effects of variables or targeting subdivided samples in consideration
of socio-cultural contexts. Second, it is difficult to generalize the results to other countries
since the sample of this study was limited to those living in the Republic of Korea, where
public IT infrastructure is common and is expected to be relatively high in technology
acceptance. Therefore, future research will need to ensure racial and geographical diversity
in selecting samples. Finally, the scope of the study did not cover all types of services that
make up the smart home market. Since the smart home market is rapidly evolving and
changing, various services appear and disappear at the same time. Thus, future studies
need to address the adoption and preferences of new types of services that will emerge as
the market changes. In conclusion, future research should overcome these limitations and
extend the present study findings to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the
adoption of smart home technology.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.C.; methodology, S.C.; software, S.C.; validation, S.C.;
formal analysis, S.C.; investigation, S.C.; resources, S.C.; data curation, S.C.; writing—original draft
preparation, S.C.; writing—review and editing, K.N.; visualization, S.C.; supervision, K.N.; project
administration, K.N.; funding acquisition, S.C. and K.N. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the
Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hanyang University
(HYUIRB-202009-013, 11 September 2020).
Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.
Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Acknowledgments: We wish to thank all the respondents who participated in the survey.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Buildings 2021, 11, 393 15 of 17

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