Rational and irrational factors affecting the purchase decision of wearable IoT devices

Wearable internet of things devices (WITD) have become very popular with consumers worldwide. From wristwear and neckwear to virtual and augmented reality gear, WITD capture sensitive information about the user and have poor security and privacy management capabilities. Collection of personal data can impact consumer purchase decisions. Using the privacy paradox/calculus perspective, our research investigates rational and irrational decision-making factors that impact WITD purchase decision perceptions. Data was collected (n = 319) by convenience sampling from US consumers and subject to confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling. The findings show that purchase decisions are motivated by, 1) rational factors such as social influence and perceived value and, 2) irrational factors such as paranoia and innovativeness. Understanding consumer purchase decisions of WITD is an essential issue for the industry and our findings provide a basis for future studies to advance WITD research on privacy related issues in a dynamic and increasingly data-collection oriented environment.