Evaluating Smart Home Device User Responses to their (Un)Confirmed Privacy Expectations

2026-08-20

AI Summary

研究通过揭示智能设备数据处理实践，利用期望确认理论探讨其对用户信任、满意度及应对行为的影响，采用实地监测和在线实验两种方法。

Abstract

Users of smart home devices are often unaware of how their devices handle personal data. We examine how revealing these data practices influences user trust, satisfaction, and coping behaviors, including decisions to block device communications. Using Expectation-Confirmation Theory, we conducted two complementary studies to balance ecological validity with experimental control. An in-situ field study used network monitoring to reveal actual device traffic, and an online experiment presented simulated reports with manipulated levels of advertising-related communications. Across both studies, when data practices aligned with user expectations, satisfaction increased, strengthening intentions to continue using the device. Defensive responses, however, followed different pathways: satisfaction predicted willingness to block in the in-situ field study, whereas collection concerns were the primary predictor of blocking in the experiment. Together, these findings show how transparency reshapes attitudes and behaviors among existing smart-home users, underscoring the role of expectation confirmation in real-world, continued-use contexts.

Problem

• Smart Home Devices
• Privacy Expectations
• User Trust
• Satisfaction
• Coping Behaviors

Innovation

• Expectation-Confirmation Theory
• network monitoring
• transparency
• smart home devices
• privacy expectations