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Political views may influence trust in smart technologies, research finds

Phys · · 562 words · By University
Political Polarization and Technology Adoption Data Privacy Concerns
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What to know about Political Polarization and Technology Adoption

New research from the University of New Hampshire suggests that an individual's political beliefs may influence their trust in and willingness to use smart technologies. The study found that conservatives were more comfortable sharing data with community-focused smart products, while liberals expressed greater concern regarding data collection risks. The findings suggest that companies may tailor their marketing messages based on political beliefs.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 1
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Political views may influence trust in smart technologies, research finds Gaby Clark scientific editor Andrew Zinin lead editor Consumer trust in smart technologies—like Amazon's Alexa or Ring's video doorbells—may rely on more than just the technology.

Why it matters

It may also depend on a person's political beliefs.

Common ground

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.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

New research from the University of New Hampshire suggests that an individual's political beliefs may influence their trust in and willingness to use smart technologies. The study found that conservatives were more comfortable sharing data with community-focused smart products, while liberals expressed greater concern regarding data collection risks. The findings suggest that companies may tailor their marketing messages based on political beliefs.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-04-political-views-smart-technologies.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 30% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5
check_circle Corroborated 4
help Insufficient Evidence 1
schedule Pending 1
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Claim 1: “Liberals, on the other hand, showed more concern about sharing more personal data.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results consistently report that liberals showed greater concern about sharing personal data when evaluating smart products.
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web search NEUTRAL — 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 dif…
https://www.newswise.com/articles/unh-research-finds-politic…
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web search NEUTRAL — The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to …
https://abacusdata.ca/2025-federal-election-poll-liberals-ta…
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web search NEUTRAL — In the digital era, data has become the lifeblood of smart cities, revolutionizing the way urban environments are managed and optimized. The effective utilization of data is vital for driving evidence…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/driving-smarter-decisions-cru…
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Claim 2: “When smart products were framed around helping a broader community, conservatives were much more likely to embrace them.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results consistently report that when smart products were framed around helping a broader community, conservatives were much more likely to embrace them.
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web search NEUTRAL — When smart products were framed around helping a broader community, conservatives were overwhelmingly more likely to embrace them. Liberals, on the other hand, showed more concern about sharing more p…
https://www.unh.edu/news/2026/04/unh-research-finds-politica…
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web search NEUTRAL — When smart products were framed around helping a broader community, conservatives were much more likely to embrace them.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-political-views-smart-technolo…
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web search NEUTRAL — 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 ...
https://www.newswise.com/articles/unh-research-finds-politic…
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Claim 3: “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.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results cite new research from the University of New Hampshire indicating that political spectrum influences smart technology adoption, specifically noting that conservatives are more open to data sharing and liberals are more cautious.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of colleges and universities in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. For the purposes of this list, colleges and universities are defined as accredited,[a] degree-granting, postsecondary in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universit…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private university in Manchester and Hooksett, New Hampshire, United States. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Educatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_New_Hampshire_Univers…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_New_Hampshire
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 4: “The researchers found the difference wasn't due to technology itself—but rather perceptions about how smart products collect and share data.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results suggest that the difference in consumer response is related to perceptions of data sharing/benefits, but they do not explicitly state that the difference was *not* due to the technology itself, making this a conclusion drawn from the limited evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — Therefore, this research investigates the impact of smartness on customer well-being (here, self-efficacy and technology anxiety) through (1) customer engagement with different smart service system ac…
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016781162…
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web search NEUTRAL — Purpose. Consumers' perceptions of product intelligence affect their willingness to accept smart offerings. This paper explores how people perceive various smart products based on their smartness prof…
https://www.emerald.com/jstp/article/34/2/163/1215364/Smartn…
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web search NEUTRAL — PART I—STUDY 1: CONSUMER RELEVANCE OF ALGORITHM TYPES AND POSITIVE EFFECT OF HIGH ADAPTIVITY The first study consists of qualitative consumer interviews, designed to understand consumer awareness of a…
https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article/51/2/342/7450123
info
Claim 5: “Co-authors on the research include Min Zhao, associate professor of marketing at Boston College, and Sankar Sen, professor of marketing at Baruch College.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Wikipedia entries confirm the existence of the individuals and their academic fields, but the specific association of Min Zhao as an associate professor at Boston College and Sankar Sen as a professor at Baruch College is only supported by the limited web search context and not independently verified across multiple authoritative sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2022 in sports describes the year's events in world sports. The main events for this year were the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the UEFA Women's Eur…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_in_sports
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — These datasets are used in machine learning (ML) research and have been cited in peer-reviewed academic journals. Datasets are an integral part of the field of machine learning. Major advances in this…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_datasets_for_machine-l…
info
Claim 6: “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.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results do not contain specific details about controlled experiments evaluating a video doorbell with messaging focused on personal versus community benefits. This detail appears specific to the original reporting.
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover the world's scientific knowledge | With 25+ million researchers, 1+ million questions, and 160+ million publication pages, this is where everyone can access science
https://www.researchgate.net/search/researcher
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 19, 2025 · This abstract explores the function of reflexivity in qualitative research, emphasizing the importance of reflexivity in protocols for observations and interviews. Understanding how res…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389953235_Reflexivi…
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web search NEUTRAL — Most researchers also do a Google Scholar TM search and/or search otherrelevantelectronicdatabasesintheirinstitution’sli-brary system (e.g. ABI-Inform).Akey decisioninvolves settling on keywords ...
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Karen-Fernandez-3/publi…
info
Claim 7: “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.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results do not contain specific details about the researchers conducting a field survey on Alexa and Waze differentiating between personal and community focus. The evidence is too general to confirm this specific methodological step.
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web search NEUTRAL — Technological advancements and digital marketing have further reshaped consumer behavior, with factors like online reviews, social media influence, and personalized advertising playing a critical ...
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/389357235_Consumer_…
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web search NEUTRAL — Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Search across a wide variety of disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions.
https://scholar.google.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — With consumer behavior changing rapidly—and, often, in unexpected ways—companies must get better at anticipating and responding to new consumer needs and preferences. Our experts explain how.
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/…
help
Claim 8: “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.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was gathered for this claim, and the evidence count confirms no relevant search results were found.
schedule
Claim 9: “Publication details: Shuili Du et al, Consumer adoption of community-focused smart products: the moderating role of political ideology, Journal of Business Research (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115951”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 10: “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.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim specifies a study published in the 'Journal of Business Research.' While Wikipedia confirms the existence and nature of the 'Journal of Business Research,' the web search results provided do not contain the specific details of the study examining 'community-focused' smart products, making it difficult to corroborate the full context with independent sources.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 4OR - A Quarterly Journal of Operations Research is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 2003 and is published by Springer Science+Business Media. It is a joint official journa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4OR
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Business Research is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on all aspects of business. It was established in 1973 and is published by Elsevier. The editors-in-chief…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journal_of_Business_Research
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Research Policy is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Elsevier on behalf of the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex. It was established by British economist Chr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Policy_(journal)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “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.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results from UNH research explicitly state that consumer trust in smart technologies like Alexa or Ring may depend on political beliefs, not just the technology itself. This is reported across multiple search snippets.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Whether consumers trust smart technologies like Ring doorbells or Amazon Alexa may depend not just on the technology itself, but also on their political beliefs, according to new research from the Uni…
https://www.unh.edu/news/2026/04/unh-research-finds-politica…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 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.
https://phys.org/news/2026-04-political-views-smart-technolo…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 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.
https://www.newswise.com/articles/unh-research-finds-politic…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.