Smartphones Adoption and Usage of 50+ Adults in the United Kingdom

This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Jyoti Choudrie, Sherah Kurnia, and Panayiota Tsatsou, eds., Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-enabled Services, on October 2017, available online at: https://www.routledge.com/Social-Inclusion-and-Usability-of-ICT-enabled-Services/Choudrie-Kurnia-Tsatsou/p/book/9781138935556. Under embargo until 30 April 2019.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The Adoption, Use and Diffusion of Smartphones among Adults over Fifty in the UK

Smartphones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all the users of society are accepting and using smart phones, more specifically, for this research study older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons that older adults adopt and use smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aimed to identify, examine and explain the adoption and usage of smartphones in the UK within the 50 years old and above population. For this purpose, a conceptual framework, a Model of Smartphone Adoption (MOSA) was formed drawing factors from the theories of Unified theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI) and Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3). Seven variables from the theories were brought to consideration, which were Observability, Social influence, Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation conditions, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment. For the research method, a quantitative approach was selected to examine and apply MOSA that involved the data collection method of an online questionnaire survey that resulted in 204 completed replies during the pilot phase of this research and 984 in the final phase. The collected data was analysed using SEM-PLS where the results found that six of the eight formed hypotheses were supported, and the factors of Compatibility, Effort expectancy, Facilitation condition, Performance expectancy and Perceived enjoyment were important for the adoption of smartphones. From these results, it was understood that older adults used smartphones because they have enough knowledge, time and money to use. They also think that smartphones are easy to use, provide benefits including enjoyment and are compatible with their lifestyles. In terms of usage, older adults frequently used the basic features of smartphones such as making a phone call, SMS, email, and browsing. Older adults are also likely to use their devices for seeking information about their health and for appointments with their doctors; however, from this research it was found that more than half of the 50 years old and above adults did not use smartphones for health and well-being purposes. The contributions of this research are viewed to be the identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphones use within the older adult population. Secondly, this research can inform smartphone manufacturers and developers of factors pertinent for the design of computing devices and applications specific to silver surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage the adoption and use of smartphones within the older adult population. Regarding limitations, these existed in the form of finance and time. To overcome the limitations, this research recommends further studies that apply qualitative research and/or to provide a comparison between western and eastern countries

Investigating the adoption and use of smartphones in the UK : a silver-surfers perspective

Copyright and all rights therein are retained by the authors. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be re-posted without the explicit permission of the copyright holdersSmart phones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all members of society are accepting and using smart phones; more specifically, for this research study silver-surfers or older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons for older adults adopting and using smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aims to investigate the adoption and usage behaviours of silver-surfers. For this purpose, the conceptual framework applied to this research draws factors from the following theories: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI), and TAM3 (Technology Acceptance Model). From the online survey of 204 completed replies it was found that observability, compatibility, social influence, facilitating conditions, effort expectancy and enjoyment are important to the adoption and use of smartphones within silver-surfers. The contributions of this research are an identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphone use within the older adult population. Second, this research can inform the design of computing devices and applications used for silver-surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage adoption and use of smartphones among silver surfersFinal Published versio

Silver Surfers Adoption, Use and Diffusion of Smartphones: An SME Perspective

In a global and knowledge rich economy, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become critical for organisations. Smartphones have impacted society and organisations alike with varying adoption and use within age groups. Due to recent legislation in many countries, older adults are now working longer life, but appear to lag behind younger users in terms of adoption and use of novel technologies. Smartphones are also important for older adults and with extended working lives. They will need to keep abreast with the times. In this research-in-progress paper, we aim to examine, identify and explain how silver surfers owned micro enterprises diffuse, adopt and use smartphones in United Kingdom (UK). For this, a conceptual model based upon the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour (DTPB) and Roger Everett‟s Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory will be used. To obtain the finding, a combined qualitative and quantitative approach involving surveys and interviews will be employed. A unique contribution of this research is to examine the research aim within the context of SMEs owned by silver surfers; thereby providing, a conceptual framework exclusive to older business owners. For industry, it will also be an identification of factors specific to older users