Smart digital voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa are being used by more and more consumers. This results not only in opportunities, but also in new risks. On behalf of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), ConPolicy is therefore investigating the effects of voice assistants. One the one hand, it is investigated to what extent recommendation systems of smart assistants influence the selection decisions of consumers to their disadvantage and, on the other hand, how a growing use of voice assistants for consumer decisions and for the control of IoT devices will affect competition.
To answer these questions, expert interviews and a literature analysis will be conducted. In three steps, references of relevant parties will be documented, the current state of research on the effects of voice assistants on consumer interests will be described, and future research needs will be identified.
More information about the project can be found here.