Recent technological advancements have enabled the development of smarter (more automated) and more intelligent (adaptable) environments. To understand what factors lead users to reject or adopt Intelligent Environments (IEs), we reviewed nine prominent technology adoption theories. We conducted a literature review to investigate the acceptance and adoption of different types of IEs. We found that perceived usefulness, ease of use, perceived control or self-efficacy, affect and enjoyment, and perceived risks are the common factors across the studies explaining the adoption of IEs. However, shortcomings in the design and methods of the reviewed studies present major concerns in the generalizability and application of existing theories to emerging IEs. We identify eight lacunae in the existing literature and propose a new conceptual model for explaining the adoption of IEs. Through this study, we contribute to the formulation of the theoretical background for the successful introduction of IEs and their integration into users’ everyday life.

Robo‐advisors have recently been gaining interest as a technology‐enabled means to make financial management easier. The aim of this study is to examine how people's self‐assessed financial experience, affective reactions, and the interplay with individual values influence their willingness to use a robo‐advisor. We argue that one's self‐assessed financial experience influences the willingness to use robo‐advisors as a result of different affective reactions (i.e., anxiety and joy) associated with its usage. We further posit that the mediating effect of anxiety varies with individual levels of a motivational factor—self‐enhancement—which has been found to regulate anxiety‐related feelings. Based on a large‐scale nationwide survey with an online sample of American adults, it was found that affective responses (i.e., anxiety and joy) explain (i.e., mediate) the effect of self‐assessed financial experience on the willingness to use robo‐advisor. Moreover, the mediating effect of anxiety was found to vary with levels of self‐enhancement motives. The findings suggest that willingness to use robo‐advisors may be increased with positive emotions (e.g., joy) expected from use, while decreased by anticipated negative emotions (e.g., anxiety), and that the relationship may be altered by inducing individuals' self‐enhancement motives (e.g., possibility of accumulating wealth).