Responsible smart home technology adoption: exploring public perceptions and key adoption factors

• Analysis reveals evolving perceptions of smart home technologies in recent years. • Privacy, security, and ethical concerns significantly influence adoption decisions. • Public priorities are shifting to ethical and responsible smart home use. • Growing awareness and demand for responsible innovation impacts user behaviour. • Study findings guide industry and regulators toward ethical, user-focused solutions. Initially, smart home technology gained traction for its aesthetic appeal, functionality, and allure to early tech enthusiasts. Today, it plays a crucial role in enhancing security, healthcare, and energy management. As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, smart homes offer increased convenience and automation. Yet, concerns over privacy, data security, and ethical use have grown. This study leverages social media analytics to analyze a longitudinal dataset of over 150,000 tweets from Australia between 2016 and 2023, using quantitative, sentiment, and content analysis. The goal is to investigate the evolving public discourse around smart home technologies, focusing on user key concerns. A novel insight from the study reveals a rising awareness and demand for responsible practices in the development and deployment of smart home technologies, which may influence user adoption intentions and behaviors. This suggests a potential shift in user priorities from seeking functionality and convenience to becoming more concerned with ethical standards and responsible use. The study makes a novel contribution as it identifies a new trend in public discourse that extends beyond the traditional drivers of smart home technology adoption. By capturing these dynamics, this paper provides critical insights for stakeholders—particularly in the smart home industry and regulatory sectors—to inform the development of more responsible, user-centered products and policies.