Are you letting Alexa make buying decisions for you yet?

The number of smart speaker users is growing by 48% a year.  That's faster than any tech product since the smart phone.  By the end of 2018, 90 million Americans will have smart speakers. (Koetsier, 2018)

No longer just for techies, speakers are now being adopted by Baby Boomers (8 million users), younger Gen X women, and parents and families - including my 7 year old niece Mallory, who got one for her birthday. (Stone, 2018)

Before long we'll all be having conversations with our voice assistants.  And then, we'll be happy to let them make our decisions for us. 

Decision-making is hard work.  What makes it even harder is having too many choices.  And the Internet is all about infinite choices.  So we find plenty of short cuts to make decisions easier.  For instance we may look at only one element - say price, or we could only consider items with a 5 star rating - which indicates that others like the product.  It's what we do.

So, I wasn't surprised to read that 85% of voice assistant users have purchased the item suggested by smart speakers despite the fact that it may have differed from their initial intent.  And, 37% of voice purchasers 18-34 "always" or "often" purchase the first option selected for them by voice assistants. (Faw, 2018)

It's just so much easier to let someone else decide. 

Do you have a smart speaker yet?  If so, have you bought anything based on a recommendation from it?  If you don't have a smart speaker yet, are you planning to get one?  Will you let it make decisions for you even if they are biased?  Does it concern you that you have far less choice when you buy things on mobile phones and smart speakers than you do online?

Koetsier, J. (2018, May 29)  Smart Speaker Users Growing 48% Annually, To Hit 90M In USA This Year.  forbes.com.  Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2018/05/29/smart-speaker-users-growing-48-annually-will-outnumber-wearable-tech-users-this-year/#3da75bc05dde

Stone, J. (2018, November 9)  Smart Boomers, Smart Speakers, Smart Marketing.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved November 28, 2018, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/327850/smart-boomers-smart-speakers-smart-marketing.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=111748&hashid=qPjrjs2d4CzuoIyymSYheeVOsxs

Faw, L. (2018, August 8) How Brands Can Avoid The Dreaded Voice Assistant 'Dismissal' mediapost.com  Retrieved August 29, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/323358/how-brands-can-avoid-the-dreaded-voice-assistant.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=110385&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI

Tell me something good.

I have a new favorite column in Sunday's New York Times.  It's called "The Week in Good News."  These days I can use all the good news I can get.  They should make it a daily feature. :-)

Not to worry though, voice assistants are on the case.  Google just released a new feature for its voice assistant called "Tell Me Something Good."  (Gottsegen, 2018)

Before long we'll all be having conversations with our voice assistants.  And then, we'll be happy to let them make our decisions for us. 

Decision-making is hard work.  What makes it even harder is having too many choices.  And the Internet is all about infinite choices.  So we find plenty of short cuts to make decisions easier.  For instance we may look at only one element - say price, or we could only consider items with a 5 star rating - which indicates that others like the product.  It's what we do.

So, I wasn't surprised to read that 85% of voice assistant users have purchased the item suggested by smart speakers despite the fact that it may have differed from their initial intent.  And, 37% of voice purchasers 18-34 "always" or "often" purchase the first option selected for them by voice assistants. (Faw, 2018)

It's just so much easier to let someone else decide.  Marketers take note.

https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-week-in-good-news

Gottsegen, G. (2018, August 21)  Need some good news? Ask Google: 'Tell Me Something Good' cnet.com Retrieved August 29, 2018, from

https://www.cnet.com/news/need-some-good-news-ask-google-tell-me-something-good/

Faw, L. (2018, August 8) How Brands Can Avoid The Dreaded Voice Assistant 'Dismissal' mediapost.com  Retrieved August 29, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/323358/how-brands-can-avoid-the-dreaded-voice-assistant.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=110385&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI

Google is Skynet -- or maybe Amazon is.

I caught up with Terminator Genisys this weekend, just in time for Google's announcement of Google Home this week.

Google Home is your new virtual assistant, just like Echo (Amazon) or Siri (Apple).  It will control a variety of devices in your home and bring you music and entertainment.  And it will do a Google search for you.  (Forbes, 2016)

I wonder how that's going to work.  Sometimes I search for hours to find the information I am looking for.  Meanwhile Google is gathering data about me.  Data that it recently sold to someone who served me an ad for a medical problem that I don't have.  It freaked me out.  It's so much more personal than just trying to sell me shoes.

And maybe it's just me, but I don't particularly want a surveillance device in my home listening to everything I say.  And what happens when it goes down and I can't turn on a light or lock a door?  I shudder to think of the possibilities.  (Oremus, 2016)

Forbes, T. (2016, May 19)  Google's Coming Home, Among Other Developments.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved May 19, 2016, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/276207/googles-coming-home-among-other-developments.html

Oremus, W. (2016, May 18) The Google Home Is Like the Amazon Echo, Only Smarter.  And Maybe Creepier.  slate.com.  Retrieved May 19, 2016, from http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/05/18/google_home_is_a_smart_speaker_that_s_smarter_than_the_amazon_echo_creepier.html