Title: A cross-culture study on older adults' information technology acceptance

Authors: Lin Wang, Pei-Luen Patrick Rau, Gavriel Salvendy

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Abstract: This study investigated cultural differences in older adults| information technology needs and its perceived usability. Experiments were conducted in the USA, Korea and China, including 24 American, 23 Korean and 21 Chinese older adults. Main findings include: Chinese and Korean participants exhibited significantly higher degrees of interest, intention and self-estimated frequency of using information technology to connect with others than the US participants; the US participants showed more interest in and intent to use information technology to access information than to connect with others. The results suggest that older adults| cultural backgrounds are important in the design of IT products.

Keywords: older adults; IT acceptance; cultural differences; needs orientation; perceived usability; use interest; use intention; self-estimated use frequency; mobile communications; information technology; IT needs; USA; Korea; China; United States; technology acceptance; product design; culture.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2011.042452

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2011 Vol.9 No.5, pp.421 - 440

Published online: 11 Sep 2011 *

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