As Smart Speakers Evolve, So Do Consumers

Between 2011 and 2014, smart speakers began quickly ascending into the mainstream with the launch of popular voice assistants and speakers from Amazon, Google, and Apple. Since then, they have exploded in popularity and are having a profound effect on how we consume content, behave, and even shop.

In this blog post, we will examine Comscore Plan Metrix Multi-Platform data on U.S. consumer behaviors, attitudes, and preferences regarding smart speaker devices. Plan Metrix Multi-Platform is a powerful audience segmentation tool that combines consumers’ desktop and mobile behavior to enable advanced audience segmentation and provide a comprehensive view of audiences.

Growth of Device Ownership

In 2021, smart speaker ownership hit an all-time high with almost 50% of internet users owning at least one smart speaker. In the past two years alone, ownership has increased by an astonishing 70%.

The two major brands dominating the share of device ownership are Amazon and Google. As of August 2021, Amazon is the current market leader, with approximately 40% of all internet users owning at least one Amazon smart speaker. However, Google smart speakers are growing like gangbusters and have seen a whopping +234% increase from 2019 to 2021. The chart below details smart speaker ownership by brand.

Range of Activities and Behaviors

The technical definition of a smart speaker is a voice command device with an integrated virtual assistant that offers interactive actions and hands-free activation with the help of hot words. With that said, they allow us to do some amazing things. The top-five activities include (ranked by total Internet users, % of total Internet users).

While utility features like answering questions, giving the weather, and setting timers are still popular, the area of home automation is the feature that is going to be the real connected technology game-changer. This includes using voice commands that are synched with other Internet of Things ioT-enabled devices to control your home’s lighting, heating and cooling, security and other features. Even though home automation currently ranks #5 on this list, this area has seen a significant increase over the past two years, jumping to roughly 40% (vs. 12%) now using smart speakers to control home automation activities.

Purchasing Power

As these types of devices become fully integrated into our homes and daily behaviors, it’s only natural that we begin using them to shop for goods and services. Whether it’s the efficiency or the cool factor of shopping with the command of your voice, more and more owners are relying on their smart speakers to make daily purchases. Here are the top-five purchase categories for smart speakers.

The world of smart speakers is still only in its infancy. However, the one thing that’s abundantly clear is that voice-enabled devices have become an integral part of our homes and lives and are here to stay.

Advances in technology and the Internet of Things along with the always evolving nature of consumer behaviors will continue to drive this industry into new and exciting places.

To learn more about smart speaker insights, contact us today.