Intergenerational digital feedback and digital social integration of older adults: an empirical study from personal initiative perspective

Wenjia Hong, Changyong Liang (), Yiming Ma () and Junhong Zhu
Additional contact information
Wenjia Hong: Hefei University of Technology
Changyong Liang: Hefei University of Technology
Yiming Ma: Anhui University of Finance and Economics
Junhong Zhu: Hefei University of Technology

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Abstract Amid rapid population aging and the swift progress of artificial intelligence technology, the use of artificial intelligence products (AIPs) can improve older adults’ well-being by helping them integrate into digital society. However, limited research has explored the influence mechanism of this social integration. This study builds a theoretical model to explore the influence mechanism of different sources of intergenerational digital feedback on older adults’ digital social integration (DSI) from personal initiative perspective. An explanatory sequential mixed-method design is used, including a quantitative study (questionnaire survey with 549 respondents) and qualitative study (semi-structured interviews with 11 participants). A structural equation model is used for quantitative data analysis, and the quantitative results are explained by the qualitative results. Our results show that societal feedback has the greatest impact on older adults’ motivation and capability to use AIPs, and that motivation to use has a greater impact on personal initiative than capability to use. In addition, the results confirm that the key to DSI of older adults is their own initiative to use AIPs. Accordingly, this study proposes that the whole society should actively help older adults use AIPs, better integrating them into digital society.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05518-z Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05518-z

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05518-z

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().