Survey: Americans don't totally 'get' smart home

A new survey of 2,225 adults by The Harris Poll suggests that statistics surrounding "smart home" may be flawed because many Americans don't understand what it entails.

Nearly two-thirds (64%) said they don't know much about smart home technology. In comparison, Nielsen's Connected Life Report found that 53% of household decision makers know what connected home technology does.

Here's the effect this has on our understanding of the industry: only 7% said they own "smart home" products, but when asked whether they owned any number of specific devices that fall within that purview, that number rose to 34%.

Of course, to no one's surprise, people who consider themselves early adopters are much more likely to own a device (59% versus 20% for late adopters). However, early adopters are also more likely to understand the terminology surrounding smart home.

Not understanding what smart home products do can also make consumers hesitate to purchase them. Two in ten (21%) said they're not sure when they would consider purchasing smart home products.

That said, affordability, not knowledge, may still be a more important tipping factor. The highest percentage (37%) said they would consider purchasing smart home technology once it becomes cheaper, and 88% currently believe the devices are too expensive.

Within the category of smart home, the most popular devices are wireless speaker systems (17%), smart thermostats (11%) and smart/wireless home security and monitoring systems (9%).