Indian consumer's perception of the smartwatch

Abstract

Adoption of smartwatches has seen a huge growth in recent years in India. Consumer's expectations are also changing with newer features and the ways these technology products are being used. With a plethora of smart watch offerings across price, features, brands, it becomes important to understand what consumers are looking for. This study aims to understand if the Indian consumer considers the smartwatch more as a luxury item and therefore if hedonic factors drive the purchase or if, the smartwatch is seen as a feature rich, productivity improving device, and utilitarian factors are more important. Based on our analysis from the survey we conducted, we find that Indian consumers give design aesthetics the highest preference when purchasing smartwatches. From a regression analysis between attitude towards smartwatch and perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and design aesthetics we found a significant positive correlation. Smartwatch companies should therefore focus on marketing specific attributes related to design aesthetics to convert more of Indian customers.