The evolving consumer IoT: A novel framework for marketing strategy based on assemblage theory

Abstract

The rapid adoption of generative AI powered by large language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude promises to disrupt innovation for the consumer Internet of Things (IoT). To understand potential consumer behaviors and marketing strategies, we use an assemblage theory framework to analyze the coevolution of consumer and marketer roles in shaping consumer IoT ecosystems like the smart home. Our framework investigates how different consumer- and marketer-driven territorialization and deterritorialization strategies work to stabilize and destabilize the smart home assemblage. We contrast highly territorialized smart homes characterized by preprogrammed behaviors and clear boundaries, with highly deterritorialized DIY smart homes exhibiting unpredictable behaviors and fuzzy boundaries. Our analysis evaluates how consumers territorialize through habit formation, personalization, and sharing experiences, while marketers territorialize by emphasizing reliability, integration, and clear use cases. Consumers deterritorialize by modifying and hacking devices, and integrating nonstandard products, while marketers deterritorialize by disrupting compatibility or targeting new segments. We also integrate flow theory as an interpretive framework for understanding consumer motivations to territorialize and deterritorialize and argue that the oscillation between states of consumer anxiety and boredom create dynamic smart home identities. Our assemblage theory perspective permits a novel strategic framework that can be applied to anticipate consumer and marketer impacts on smart home evolution.