Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices

The rising occurrence of high-profile security hacks and privacy breaches, as well as being personally victimized, are contributing to ever-increasing consumer anxiety about smart home devices and platforms, according to new research.

Parks Associates’ latest quarterly survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households found that almost half of consumers rank data security and privacy issues as their greatest concerns about connecting devices to the Internet, compared to other problems they may encounter, such as with tech support. Forty percent of the respondents say they have experienced a privacy or security problem with a connected device in the past year, most commonly viruses and malware.

“Our most recent data reveals that almost half of U.S. broadband households are ‘very concerned’ [rating 6-7 on a 7-point scale] about hackers getting control of connected devices and hackers getting access to data from the device,” says Parks Associates Research Analyst Brad Russell. “In tracing trending changes on these consumer attitudes from 2014 to 2016, we find that while the total share of consumers who are ‘concerned’ [rating 5-7] has not appreciably changed, the share of those that are ‘very concerned’ has grown by 6% to 7%. Similarly, the share of consumers who are ‘not concerned [rating 1-3] has shrunk by about half.”

From the article "Network Security: Hacking Fears Could Scare Consumers Away from Smart-Home Devices" by Rodney Bosch.

Previously In The News

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Smart Locks

Smart locks contribute enhanced convenience as well as increased security, two of the principal driving factors in any smart device sales. In fact, a recent Parks Associates study found that 45% of sm...

How Home Automation Can Provide a Good Night’s Sleep

A hot topic in health today is the importance of getting a good night's sleep. According to research by Parks Associates 25% of consumers are very concerned about a lack of quality sleep. This is not...

Top 5 Home Tech Trends and Opportunities for 2017: From Voice Control to VR

Parks Associates research indicates 40 percent of U.S. smartphone owners use voice-recognition software, generally eclipsing the use of phones for streaming music to speakers or video to a second scre...

16% of US Households Plan to Buy Standalone Smart Security Products

According to a recent Parks Associates report 360 Deep Dive: Pricing Strategies for Residential Security,16 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a security-related smart home product, such...