Understanding Gerontechnology Acceptance by Elderly
Hong Kong Chinese: A Senior Technology Acceptance
Model (STAM)
Ke Chen PhD
Alan H. S. Chan PhD
Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
InternationalWorkshop “Well-being in Ageing Societies: Perspectives from China, Germany and Japan” 24 Oct 2013, Beijing1

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Content
I. Introduction
II. Research framework
III. Methodology
IV. Results
V. Conclusion

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Gerontechnology
GerontologyTechnology Gerontechnology aims to apply technology for dealing with problems anddifficulties arising from ageing so as to give older people the chance to lead lives thatare healthier, more independent, and more socially engaging on a continual
basis (Fozard, Rietsema, Bouma, & Graafmans, 2000; Lesnoff-Caravaglia, 2007).

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Definition of technology acceptance Technology Acceptance“the approval, favorable reception and ongoing use of
newly introduced devices and systems (Arning & Ziefle,2007). ”

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II. Aim and objectives
 To investigate the key factors that contribute to theacceptance and non-acceptance of gerontechnology by older
Hong Kong Chinese and how these factors operate andinteract.

 A Senior Technology Acceptance Model (STAM) wasdeveloped and tested. The proposed STAM integrates theconventional technology acceptance model (TAM) constructs
and the new elderly-specific characteristics (health andability).

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Senior Technology Acceptance Model (STAM)
TAM-related constructs
Gerontechnology self-efficacy
Gerontechnology anxiety
Facilitating conditions

Perceived
Usefulness(PU)Self-reported health conditions
Physical functioning
Cognitive ability

Attitudetowards Use(AT)UsageBehaviour

Social relationships
Attitude to ageing andlife satisfaction

Health and abilities6Perceived
Ease of Use(PEOU)

Controls: age, gender, education level, economic status

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III. Methodology

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Procedure

Participants

Measurement

Cross- sectionalquestionnaire
survey throughface to faceinterview ( 20mins)• 1012 participants from
17 local elderly centres.
• Men (25.3%) andwomen (74.7%).
• Majority were 75 and84 (41.7%), living withhousehold members(72.7%), had received
primary education(35.5%), married (51.4%),
retired (85.4%), of middle
economic status (81.1%) ,and supported by families(58.7%).

• Most of the scales
and items have been
widely used andvalidated in priorempirical studies.
• A ten-point Likert
scale ranging from 1(disagree strongly) to10 (agree strongly)
using a visual
analogue format.

PhD Oral Exam _ Gerontechnology
acceptance

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Measurement: 1. Use of Gerontechnology
 Degree of use
Not heard of -“1”Heard, but notusing – “2”Used or using“3”8 Domain of use (16-item list)
Housing and daily living technology
Electric cooking products
Remote control devices
Automatic teller machine
Credit cards
Transport smart cards
Communication technology
Mobile phones
E-mailComputers or Internet
Health technology
Health products or sports equipment
Emergency alert products/services
Electronic sphygmomanometer/glucometer
TelecareEducation and recreation technology
Electronic dictionary
Digital cameras
CD/MP3/MP4
DVD/VCD players
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Measurement: 2. Perceptions and attitude

9Constructs

Operational definition

Attitude towards
using
gerontechnology
Perceived
usefulness

An individual's positive or negative feelings or appraisal about using
gerontechnology (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Perceived ease ofuse

The extent to which a person believes that using a technology is free ofeffort (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Gerontechnology
self-efficacy

A sense of personal ability to successfully perform a given task of using
gerontechnology (Bandura, 1977).

Gerontechnology
anxiety

An individual's apprehension when he or she is faced with the possibility ofusing a gerontechnology (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

Facilitating
conditions

Objective factors in the environments that can make gerontechnology usage
easy to do (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
Five indicators: basic knowledge, available help, financial resources,
accessibility, and social influences.

The degree to which a person believes that using the particular technology
would improve his/her quality of life (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

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Measurement: 3. Age-related characteristics
Construct
Self-reported
health conditions

Indicators
Sources
Lou, 2010; McDowell, 2006, p.
General health619
Health compares others
Hearing
VisionMovement
WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOLCognitive ability
MemoryBREF (McDowell, 2006, p. 619).
Learning
Concentration
Thinking
WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOLSocial relationships Personal relationships
BREF (McDowell, 2006, p. 619).
Support from friends and family
Participation in social activities
Philadelphia Geriatric Center
PsychologicalAttitude to ageing
Morale Scale (PGCMS)
functionLife satisfaction
Perform instrumental activities of daily living Eight -item Lawton-Brody IADL
Physical function
scale (McDowell, 2006; Pinto et(IADL) independentlyal., 2000, p. 56)

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IV. RESULTS
1. Measurement assessment
2. General use of technology
3. Structural Model11

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1. Measurement Assessment
 Measurement model fit: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

using AMOS software
Goodness-of-fit indicesRecommended value

Results< 0.080.054< 0.080.075

NFI (normed fit index)> 0.90.919

NNFI (non-normed fit index)> 0.90.928

CFI (comparative fit index)> 0.90.938

RMSEA (root mean square error ofapproximation)
SRMR (standardized root mean square
residual )12

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Measurement Reliability and Validity
Constructs
Attitude towards using
Perceived usefulness
Perceived ease of use
Gerontechnology anxiety
Gerontechnology self-efficacy
Facilitating conditions
Self-reported health conditions
Cognitive ability
Social relationships
Attitude to ageing and life satisfaction
Physical function

13Constructreliability (CR)
0.846
0.952
0.784
0.849
0.671
0.852
0.829
0.932
0.827
0.670
0.909
Reliability: CR > 0.60
(Bagozzi & Yi, 1988)

Average varianceextracted (AVE)
0.734
0.869
0.647
0.738
0.508
0.536
0.513
0.773
0.624
0.505
0.568
Validity: AVE > 0.50 (Hair,2010)2014/3/19

Housing & daily living

CommunicationHealth

Education&Entertainment

10080

> 50%

Used 60
orusing 40
Heard
but not 20
using
Notheard

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Structural Model Testing
Hierarchical multiple regression using SPSS 16.0
 DV: PU, PEOU, AT, Usage Behavioral
 IVs:
 Model 1: Age, gender, education, and economic status
 Model 2: TAM-related constructs (PEOU,PU, AT, self-efficacy, anxiety, andfacilitating conditions).
 Model 3: Health and ability characteristics

 R2; Change in R2; Significant level = 0.05.

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Model 1: Demographic Characteristics

Model1

16

Independent
variables

PEOU
Beta

Dependent variables
PUAT
Beta
BetaUB
BetaAgeGender
Education
Economic status-0.298***-0.079**0.220***
0.058*-0.248***-0.0240.181***
0.013-0.230***-0.0460.147***
0.044-0.411***-0.117***0.322***
0.157***

R20.236

0.143

0.123

0.517

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Model 2: TAM-related Constructs
Model Independentvariables
2

PEOU
Beta
Age
-0.107***
Gender-0.021
Education-0.095**
Economic status-0.093***Self-efficacy
0.341***
Anxiety-0.061**
Facilitating conditions 0.446***
Perceived ease of use
Perceived usefulness
Attitude toward using

R2∆R2170.526
0.290***

Dependent variables
PUAT
Beta
Beta
-0.0270.003
0.027-0.017-0.073*-0.049*-0.104***0.001
0.110**
0.030
0.003
0.003
0.330***
0.102**
0.390***
0.078**
0.717***

0.476
0.333***

0.702
0.579***

UB
Beta-0.279***-0.076***0.129***
0.077***
0.213***-0.050*0.205***
0.039
0.061
0.016

0.644
0.127***
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Model 3: Age-related Health and Ability Characteristics
Model3

Independent variables

Age
Gender
Education
Economic status
Self-efficacy
Anxiety
Facilitating conditions
Perceived ease of use
Perceived usefulness
Attitude toward using
Health conditions
Cognitive ability
Social relationships
Attitude to ageing & life
satisfaction
Physical functioning

R2
∆R2
18

PEOU
Beta
-0.096***-0.021-0.093**-0.091***0.320***-0.058*0.453***

Dependent variables
PUAT
Beta
Beta
-0.0180.011
0.020-0.019-0.058-0.046-0.112***-0.007
0.093*
0.018-0.0050.002
0.286***
0.087**
0.393***
0.080**
0.707***

0.066*
0.033-0.025-0.069*0.016-0.0610.125***
0.028

0.023
-0.011
0.041
0.016

UBBeta-0.239***-0.075***0.121***
0.047*
0.161***-0.038*0.157***
0.052
0.053
-0.009-0.067**0.072*
0.084***
0.137***

0.057*

0.002

0.006

0.066***

0.535
0.009**

0.488
0.012***

0.705
0.003

0.680
0.036***
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Results for the Structural Model
Facilitating conditions
Gerontechnology anxiety

Perceived(e.g., health and ability
2. External variables
Usefulnes
characteristics)
direct impact on usages (PU)behavior, not mediated by attitudinal variables.

Gerontechnology self1. Attitude
and attitudinal factors, i.e. PU
efficacyand PEOU are not key determinants ofHealth conditions
behavior.

Usage
Behaviour(UB)

Attitudetowards
Use (AT)

Cognitive ability
Social relationships
Attitude to lifeand satisfaction

Perceived
Ease of Use(PEOU)

Physical functioning
Controlled variables: age, gender, education level, and economic status19

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CONCLUSIONS
 It
concludedthat
personal
characteristics (age,
1. wasLower
access needs
for usingtechnology.
• Internet
usage by peopleandover health
65: 15.5%deficiencies)in 2012 in Hong andKong (Census andeducation,confidence,Statistics Department of HKSAR, 2013), 45% in Japan (Ministry of Internal
environmental
supports2011),(finance,accessibility,Affairs and Communications,
53% in the
U.S. (Pew Internet & American
Life Project,2012), and 57.4%
the United
Kingdom (OfficeforthanNational
assistance,and guidance)
havein morepredictive
value
Statistics, 20 February 2013).
attitudinal
factors(usefulnessand received
ease offinancialuse) when
2. Financial concerns.
58.7%
of the respondents
support from theirfamily members;family rather thanusage
the governmentis takingprimary
responsibility
explaining
gerontechnology
by olderHong
Kong
for supporting the older people in Hong Kong.
Chinese.
3. Relatively low level of literacy among elders:33.7% were below primaryeducation. Universal primary education has already been achieved in most developed
countries (United Nations, 2011).
4. Collectivistic culture like China dominated by notions of "face saving" and groupconformity, other people's opinions can be expected to have a greater impact on
individual's behaviour (Schepers & Wetzels, 2007)20

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IMPLICATOINSProduct designers should consider the needs and characteristicsof the ageing population in product design.That designers
should determine whether older users are able to withstand thephysical and psychological demands made by theproduct/service they will use.

 Create more low-threat situations where the learners feel

comfortable and in control. Emphasizes the emotional
aspects or how people feel about the experience of using.

2
1

Governments and developers may help here by providing some
preferential arrangements in order to encourage older people to
make greater use of gerontechnology.
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