To invest or not to? Unravelling the factors influencing willingness to pay for smart home devices: a mixed-method approach

Purpose This research examines the determinants influencing consumer readiness to invest in smart home devices. Design/methodology/approach Employing a mixed-method strategy, this study initially applied a cross-sectional survey to gather responses from 311 Chinese consumers. The investigation applied structural equation modeling when assessing the different hypotheses. Subsequently, the study extracted 541 online customer reviews about smart home products in an e-commerce platform. The topic-modeling performed to extract important themes from the textual data regarding smart home products. Findings The results from both survey data and online customer reviews confirmed that factors such as anthropomorphism, self-congruity and the elements from Technology Acceptance Model play crucial roles in consumer decisions to buy smart home products. Originality/value This study enriches existing literature by broadening the Technology Acceptance Model to extend evaluations on anthropomorphism with self-congruity, particularly in relation to the perceived value of smart home technologies.