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RESEARCH PRODUCT

INVESTIGATING OLDER ADULTS’ INTENTION TO USE SMARTPHONES WITH A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

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Although the uptake of smartphones amongst older adults has recently taken off, the proportion of feature phone users in this population group is still prevailing. Thus, drawing on the senior technology acceptance model (STAM) and the diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) this study aimed to investigate what personal and contextual factors affect the adoption of smartphones among older adults. A telephone survey on a nation-wide representative sample of older adults aged 55+ (n = 1581) was conducted, measuring eight STAM and DIT factors (e.g., perceived usefulness, resistance to change, mobile phone anxiety) of behavioral intention to use smartphones. Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling a formal model with 14 theoretically-driven hypotheses was tested. The overall fit of the measurement and hypothesized model was excellent with only two hypotheses being rejected. Notably, social influence did not affect behavioral intention to use smartphones, while facilitating conditions negatively influenced perceived usefulness of smartphones. Conversely, behavioral intention to use smartphones was directly influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The latter two factors were affected by compatibility, mobile phone anxiety, and social influence. Moreover, facilitating conditions exerted positive influence on perceived ease of use and together with perceived enjoyment had a direct positive effect on compatibility. Resistance to change also mediated the positive effect of mobile phone anxiety on social influence. Overall, the results unveiled the complexity of causal pathways between personal and contextual factors that seem to determine indirectly the dynamics of smartphone acceptance for older adults.