YouGov: 19% of voice assistant owners dislike their device

Amazon Echo

One in five people who own a voice activated digital personal assistant dislike their device, according to new research from YouGov.

The Voice Activated Appliance report found that of the 13% of people who currently own a digital personal assistant, 52% like their device while one in five (19%) do not. A further 23% said they have ‘no strong feelings’ either way.

While 37% said they believe their devices are too limited in what they can do, 26% disagreed.

Just over half (51%) said their device makes mistakes, compared to only 10% who said it doesn’t.

The reports suggests that while there is still room for the digital personal assistant market to grow, demand is not overwhelming. Just one in seven (14%) of the general public plan to buy one in the next 12 months, compared to over eight in ten (82%) who said they do not.

“While digital personal assistants have gained traction over the last couple of years, it is arguable that they have yet to move beyond early adopters,” said Kate Fillery, researcher at YouGov Reports.

“With so many current owners being dissatisfied with their devices it is by no means certain that the devices will crack into the mainstream. While complaints about personal digital assistants making mistakes can be addressed, much harder to deal with is that a large number of owners have complaints about the device’s basic utility.”

Separate research from the7stars found that Brits are sceptical of voice assistant technology, with less than a third (29%) saying they would like to own a device such as Google Home or Amazon Echo in future, and 61% saying they are reluctant to hand these companies more data than they currently hold.