User Acceptance of Smart Home Emergency Response Systems: Mixed Methods Study

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Smart Home Technology
• Emergency Response Systems

Background:

• Smart home emergency response systems (SHERS) offer autonomous detection and alerting for critical events, unlike manual personal emergency response systems.
• Despite technical feasibility, empirical research on user acceptance of SHERS remains limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing the adoption intention of SHERS in private households.
• To identify key facilitators and barriers affecting SHERS acceptance.

Main Methods:

• A mixed-methods approach using the Double Diamond framework.
• Expert interviews, secondary data analysis, brainwriting workshops, and an online survey (n=85) with structural equation modeling.
• Methodological triangulation integrated qualitative and quantitative findings for robust conclusions.

Main Results:

• Perceived accessibility significantly predicted intention to use SHERS (β=0.33, P=.02).
• Skepticism showed a marginal negative effect (β=-0.34, P=.06), explaining 66% of behavioral intention variance (R²=0.66).
• Qualitative data revealed concerns regarding complexity, false alarms, and data privacy.

Conclusions:

• Perceived accessibility is a key driver for SHERS adoption, while skepticism presents a barrier.
• Future SHERS development should focus on seamless integration, intuitive design, user control over alarms, and strong data protection.