Understanding Older Adults' Purchase Intentions Toward Smartwatches for Health Management in Taiwan: An Extended...

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Healthy aging initiatives increasingly explore technology adoption among older adults.
• Smartwatches offer potential for health management and promoting independence in later life.
• Understanding technology adoption factors is crucial for effective health technology implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing older adults' purchase intentions for health-managing smartwatches.
• To examine the roles of self-efficacy and perceived risk in technology adoption for healthy aging.
• To identify key drivers and barriers for smartwatch adoption in the elderly population.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative analysis of 199 older adults in Taiwan using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
• Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) was employed to prioritize influencing factors.
• Data collection focused on technology acceptance model constructs and perceived risk.

Main Results:

• Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions significantly predicted smartwatch purchase intention.
• Perceived risk did not show a significant negative impact on purchase intention.
• Self-efficacy positively influenced perceived usability and mitigated perceived risk.
• Social influence was identified as the most critical factor impacting purchase intention via IPMA.

Conclusions:

• Smartwatches can support active aging by enhancing health monitoring, independence, and quality of life.
• Marketers should focus on improving smartwatch usability and leveraging social influence to boost adoption among older adults.
• Accessible support and clear communication of benefits are essential for encouraging older adults to embrace health-tracking technology.