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Research Insight 079: The use of IoT technology in consumer goods – the impact of customer perceptions of IoT on the relationship with the manufacturer

Homburg, Ch./ Mettler, S./ Ruhnau, R.

Across all product categories, more and more consumer durables incorporate Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology that enables novel, intelligent interactions between customers and devices. Despite the far-reaching impact of these interactions, knowledge about the relationships between humans, machines and manufacturers remains very limited.

Research findings from two quantitative studies in the United States and England show that a customer's high perception of the device's IoT capabilities results in increased emotional brand loyalty, an improved post-purchase experience, as well as stronger customer loyalty.

Furthermore, a mere-ownership effect exists for IoT devices: When customers highly value the IoT capabilities of their own device, customers are more loyal to the manufacturer, even if they do not use the IoT capabilities. Practitioners should therefore not market IoT as a premium feature, but as a standard feature in order to benefit from the mere-ownership effect.

Read more here: Research Insight 079

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