Impact of visual typicality on the adoption of wearables

Abstract With the recent influx of IT firms and big‐name fashion brands into the wearables market, the visual design of wearables has become a crucial factor in consumer choices. However, little research exists on this topic. Drawing upon the literature of technology adoption and design aesthetics, this study examines how the visual typicality of wearables affects their adoption by consumers. More specifically, the research tests the impact of the consumer‐perceived visual typicality of smartwatches on purchase intention through the psychological antecedents to wearable adoption (i.e., effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influence, playfulness). The hypothesized relationships among the variables were tested in an online survey with 409 U.S. participants, where fictitious smartwatch designs were employed as the stimuli. In the results, perceived visual typicality of the smartwatch designs significantly decreased perceived performance and playfulness of the watch. Perceived visual typicality also had a negative impact on participants' purchase intention. Among the four psychological antecedents to wearable adoption, perceived playfulness played the most significant role in the relationship between the visual typicality and purchase intention. The moderation effect of gender was partially supported: Visual typicality significantly decreased purchase intention for females whereas it had no impact on the wearable adoption for males.