The Mark of Trust: How Standards Anchor the Smart Home Revolution

By Sayon Deb, Director of Primary Insights
 

Standards do more than protect; they build consumer trust, enabling innovation to flourish. At UL Standards & Engagement, we've long championed this dual impact. Through standards, we establish foundational requirements for product safety, reliability, and interoperability, while certification provides independent verification through rigorous testing to these requirements. 

The research report we released this week at CES 2025 indicates that certification marks now rival brand reputation as trust signals for consumers, while nine in ten technology executives credit standards and subsequent certifications for accelerating their innovation.

The research for the report — drawing on comprehensive surveys in November 2024 of over 2,000 U.S. consumers and 176 consumer technology executives — reveals how standards and certification create a virtuous cycle: as consumer trust grows, companies gain the confidence to innovate, leading to safer and more advanced technologies.

Building Market Value Through Trust

The modern consumer is inundated with choices, making trust a pivotal factor in purchasing decisions. Certification marks — which indicate independently verified conformance to rigorous safety and performance standards — are becoming essential. Our research shows 28% of consumers highly trust these marks — a level rivaling brand reputation (30%) and expert reviews (27%).

For businesses, the impact is multifaceted: 44% of executives report that certifications enhance brand reputation and customer trust, while providing competitive and innovation advantages over peers. Additionally, 34% report gaining greater market access, including valuable retail channel opportunities.

Trust drives loyalty. Over half of consumers feel a stronger connection to brands that offer certified products, and these products enjoy greater tolerance for minor flaws. Certification to rigorous standards signals reliability, creating a foundation for lasting consumer relationships.

Standards as Innovation Accelerators

Critics often view standards as hurdles, but they are more akin to launchpads. In safety-critical categories like smart smoke detectors, standards foster both consumer confidence and product development. More than two-thirds of device owners prioritize verified safety and quality, with many willing to pay a premium for certified models.

The business case is compelling: companies prioritizing certifications report stronger market performance, with 77% achieving premium price points for certified products. The benefits are further compounded for companies pursuing multiple certifications, with 69% securing additional premiums through this comprehensive approach.

We see this innovation acceleration in action through standards like the UL 2900 series, which sets requirements for IoT device security and interoperability while enabling continuous innovation. When manufacturers design to these standards, they can confidently develop new features knowing they have a framework for protecting consumer data and safety. This approach has proven especially valuable for health monitoring devices in smart homes, where both innovation and security are paramount.

Shaping Consumer Behavior

Early adopters — consumers who describe themselves as being among the first to try new technologies — attach distinct value to products which are certified to standards. They are more likely to look for certification marks when shopping for smart home devices and are willing to pay more for certified products (32%) compared to mainstream users (17%). 

Different smart home products command different price premiums based on their certifications. For smart appliances like refrigerators and washing machines, customers care slightly more about environmental certifications than those for safety in a head-to-head comparison. 

The opposite is true for safety devices – consumers place much higher value on safety certifications for products like smart smoke detectors. Companies can use this insight to adjust their product strategies and marketing by focusing on the certification type that matters most for each product category.

A Roadmap for the Future

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how companies think about product certification. When asked about the most important certification trends for their industry, 43% of executives ranked AI and machine learning capabilities among their top three priorities. This puts AI on par with more traditional concerns like cybersecurity requirements and environmental standards. 

Beyond specific technologies, executives see certification as an enabler rather than a barrier—78% expect certification systems to accelerate innovation over the next three to five years.

To stay ahead, smart home companies should:

• Prioritize certification for their highest-risk products to build consumer trust in safety-critical devices like detectors, sensors, and locks, before expanding certification to other categories. 
• Transform certification into a competitive advantage by prominently displaying certification marks that showcase both safety and innovation. 
• Incorporate relevant standards early in R&D to save time and resources, streamline certification, and build stronger products from the ground up. 
• Invest in certification frameworks that span current and future needs. This ensures products stay competitive as technology evolves with AI and new capabilities.

Smart home companies can lead with innovation while building customer trust by getting the right certifications for their products. When customers see trusted certification marks, they are more confident about trying new smart home technologies and recommending them to others.