Relationship journeys in the internet of things: a new framework for understanding interactions between consumers and smart objects

Consumers’ interactions with smart objects have a relational nature, and extensive research has supported the “relationship metaphor” as a fruitful way to understand consumer responses to consumption objects. But, smart objects pose unique challenges for considering the emergence of consumer–object relationships, because their degrees of agency, autonomy, and authority lend them their own unique capacities for interaction. We present a new...