Factors Influencing Consumers’ Adoption of Wearable Technology: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Echoing the increasing availability of various kinds of wearable technologies in the marketplace, a growing body of literature has examined which factors are related to consumers’ adoption of wearable devices. While previous studies have applied several major theories to explain consumers’ adoption of wearable devices, some findings are inconsistent, and the understanding of the relationships between variables has been limited due to the lack of a comprehensive framework. By reviewing 36 empirical studies on adoption intention of wearable devices, we developed the comprehensive framework for adoption intention of wearable devices and conducted a meta-analysis in order to examine 24 pairwise relationships among 18 factors. The meta-analysis reveals that most of the key variables identified have significant effect sizes in their relations to attitude and adoption intention. Also, the moderation analysis shows that the effect sizes of relationships vary depending on the culture (i.e., Eastern culture versus Western culture). Together, the findings based on the comprehensive framework provide theoretical and practical implications for how consumers’ adoption of wearable devices can be facilitated.