DURHAM, N.H. — (April 21, 2026) — Consumer trust in smart technologies — like Amazon’s Alexa or Ring’s video doorbells — may rely on more than just the technology. It may also depend on a person’s political beliefs. New research from the University of New Hampshire found that where you are on the political spectrum may sway your decision to use smart technology, with conservatives being more open to sharing their data with these devices and liberals showing more caution.
“You might expect that a focus on community benefit would appeal more to liberals, since it’s about contributing to the greater good. But we found the opposite,” said Shuili Du, professor of marketing at the UNH Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. “Liberals were more concerned about the risks of data collection, while conservatives were more comfortable with it and more accepting of sharing information with companies or institutions.”
The study, published in the Journal of Business Research , examined how consumers respond to “community-focused” smart products — technologies that rely on shared data to create benefits for a broader group of users. The researchers first conducted a field survey examining how consumers use and perceive smart products like Alexa and Waze (navigation sharing), which differ naturally on their personal versus community focus. Then they ran controlled experiments where people evaluated the same smart device — a video doorbell — with different messaging, one focused on personal benefits and the other on community benefits.
When smart products were framed around helping a broader community, conservatives were much more likely to embrace them. Liberals, on the other hand, showed more concern about sharing more personal data.
The researchers found the difference wasn’t due to technology itself — but perceptions about how smart products collect and share data. When evaluating the same smart product, participants diverged in their concerns about data sharing depending on whether it emphasized personal benefits or broader community benefits.
Du thinks the differences may come from how people view risks and responsibilities. Conservatives often value order and reducing uncertainty, leading to greater comfort with data-sharing for community benefit, whereas liberals typically focus on protecting individuals and avoiding harm, making them more sensitive to privacy concerns.
With data privacy identified as a major factor in consumer adoption of smart products, the researchers hope the findings could serve as a guide for companies as they design and market these products — even tailoring communications about smart technologies to consumers with different political beliefs. They feel the research is important because it comes at a time when smart technologies are rapidly expanding — from self-driving vehicles to home robotics.
“Smart products are only going to become more common, and they will collect more and more information about us — not just what we say online, but where we go and how we live our daily lives,” said Du. “Using these products often means giving up some level of privacy in exchange for convenience or safety; understanding how people think about that tradeoff is going to be increasingly important.”
Co-authors on the research include Min Zhao, associate professor of marketing at Boston College, and Sankar Sen, professor of marketing at Baruch College.
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Journal of Business Research