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Elderly Persons and Internet Use

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DOI: 10.1177/0894439312473421

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Article
Social Science Computer Review
31(4) 389-403
ª The Author(s) 2013
Elderly Persons and Internet Use Reprints and permission:
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DOI: 10.1177/0894439312473421
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Marı́a A. Ramón-Jerónimo1, Begoña Peral-Peral2,

and Jorge Arenas-Gaitán2

Abstract
The inclusion of the elderly in the digital era could positively impact their social and economic
welfare. However, their level of Internet use is relatively low in Spain compared to other sectors of
the population. The present study aims to explain the Internet use in this segment, capturing the
heterogeneity across gender in the technology acceptance model (TAM). A sample of 492 individuals
over 50 years old has been analyzed using the multigroup approach of structural equations models.
The results show that although TAM is suitable for studying the phenomenon, it is necessary to
consider how the gender gap in the Internet use development is real for seniors. Contrary to
previous results that pointed to a greater importance of the ease of use for women than men among
Internet users, male elders seem to perceive more usefulness due to higher levels of ease of use than
woman. This ease of use is also better explained by the level of enjoyment for males. All these results
point to unique gender differences for older adults in their Internet use.

Keywords
elderly persons, Internet, technology acceptance model, gender differences, heterogeneity

Introduction
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) continue to be a major driver of economic and
social modernization. In 2008, European companies have devoted 20% of their investment to ICTs
and the sector accounts for 26% of overall research expenditure (European Commission, 2008).
Spain is the fifth country in the European ranking of Internet usage, after Germany, the United King-
dom, France, and Russia (European Commission Information Society and Media, 2010). However,
the level of Internet acceptance is not balanced across all the strata of the Spanish population.
Regarding age, older adults present a lower use of computers and Internet compared with younger
segments of the population (Instituto Nacional de Estadı́stica [INE], 2012). Specifically, men and
women in the older category show different percentages of use, 31% and 19%, respectively. This
value has been increasing since 2006 (European Commission Information Society and Media,

1
Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain
2
University of Seville, Facultad de CienciasEconómicas y Empresariales, Dpto. deAdministración de Empresas y Marketing,
Seville, Spain

Corresponding Author:
Marı́a A. Ramón-Jerónimo, Pablo de Olavide University, Ctra de Utrera, km 1, N. C. 41013, Seville 41013, Spain.
Email: maramjer@upo.es

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390 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

2010). Previsions point to an elder world population—people over 60 will reach the 2,000 million in
2050 (United Nations, 2011)—and place Spain as the oldest country in Europe with 30% of
Spaniards in this category (Puyol Antolı́n & Abellán Garcı́a, 2006).
Elderly persons represent a segment that must confront the use of new technologies at this point
of time (Peacock & Künemund, 2007). Their inclusion in the digital era could positively impact their
social and economic welfare (Aldrige, 2004) and on their quality of life (Nahm & Resnick, 2001).
The Internet can contribute to the creation of an active senior population, decreasing the rate of mar-
ginalization and social isolation (Hill, Beynon-Davies, & Williams, 2008). However, companies and
public institutions have systematically forgotten elderly persons (Eastman & Iyer, 2004; Trocchia &
Janda, 2000), though they are an increasing and interesting group of consumers that has recently
been claiming for the use of ICTs.
In general, the interest in elderly persons is increasing, not only for academics who are describing
new challenges for marketing activities (Lambert-Pandraud & Laurent, 2010) but also for political
forces in Europe which are focusing their efforts on this segment. For instance, 2012 was designated
as the European year for active ageing and solidarity between generations, with the IT services being
one of the priorities. Indeed, the acceptance behavior and the use of the Internet by older users is
receiving growing attention from the economic, social, and political viewpoints, setting the reduc-
tion of the digital divide in this population as a common goal. We have found many examples of
public policies in Spain and Europe such as the Plan Avanza1-2005 and Avanza2-2011 (Advance
plans), and the Initiative i2010.
However, previous studies about the elderly using Internet have not yet been conclusive about the
process leading to their Internet use. The aim of this work is to advance in the study of the Internet
use by elderly persons. To do so, we specifically study the technology acceptance model (TAM)
applied to the Internet, capturing the heterogeneity of the older population in the Internet use model
across genders. TAM explains and predicts how an individual decides to adopt a new technology.
Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) and the theory of planned
behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980), the model has been extensively used, tested,
and refined for the adoption of many technologies (Sun & Zhang, 2006; Yousafzai, Foxall, and
Pallister, 2007a, 2007b). However, it is necessary to understand that the older population is more
heterogeneous than any other population group (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2005). In the present study, the
heterogeneity of this segment has been described by analyzing gender differences in the acceptance
model of Internet use. The results describe the need for a new TAM conception for elderly persons.
This new conception considers the partial mediator role of perceived usefulness, behavior intention,
and ease of use and shows how enjoyment affects the perceived ease of use for males more inten-
sively than females. Similarly, we find a stronger effect of the perceived ease of use on perceived
usefulness for males than females. Our findings highlight how the perceived ease of use is a key
variable in the understanding of the heterogeneity of elders with respect to the Internet use
emergence.
The article is structured as follows. First, we introduce the Internet use process for elderly persons
describing the variables considered in the model. Second, we propose and justify a single hypothesis
about the moderator role of gender in TAM for elders. Third, the analysis and results are shown.
Finally, the article concludes with the exposition of the discussion, and the limitations and
considerations for further research.

The Internet Use and the Elderly Person

The use of computers and Internet present many advantages for seniors. It has a positive effect on
their autonomy and cognition-related issues, preventing people from cognitive decline and improv-
ing autonomy and everyday functioning (Slegers, van Boxtel, & Jolles, 2012). But access alone will

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Ramón-Jerónimo et al. 391

not result in optimal benefits from online information. Successful Internet users must possess skills
for searching, navigating, sorting, filtering, and utilizing Internet information. These skills may be
lacking in older adults (Cresci, Yarandi, & Morrell, 2010). It is not only the age that impedes the
use of Internet, but rather the lack of user experience. This is generally manifested in older indi-
viduals (Hernández, Jiménez, & Martı́n, 2011). On average, elderly persons today are healthier,
better educated, and wealthier compared to earlier cohorts; yet, the Internet diffusion advances
more swiftly than the online skills of senior citizens (Peacock & Künemund, 2007). At this
moment of time, it is not clear whether older adults will be active participants in the online com-
munity. This is the reason why some researchers are focusing their efforts on the elderly using
Internet. Some authors have studied the drivers of the Internet use by the elderly by analyzing vari-
ables such as attitude, innovation, demographics (Eastman & Iyer, 2004), nostalgia proneness,
innovativeness, and risk aversion (Reisenwitz, Iyer, Kuhlmeier, & Eastman, 2007), health, leisure,
recreation participation and leadership, and well-being (Koopman-Boyden & Reid, 2009) or the
prevalent reasons for not using the Internet (Peacock & Künemud, 2007). Nevertheless, few stud-
ies confront the emergence of the use. The use finally generates the experience required to over-
come the barriers to the Internet as a process in which different perceptions about the Internet play
an important role (see Kim, 2008 for a review of older adults’ computer learning and Internet
usage). For instance, McCloskey, (2006) identifies key variables in the process, proposing a model
in which age, trust, ease of use, and usefulness explain the level of participation in e-commerce by
older consumers. However, the basis for this study is that the elderly have already used the
Internet.
Some authors point out the positive effect of attitudes on Internet use. Iyer and Eastman (2006)
propose a scale to measure attitudes and apply it in the elderly frame. They conclude that those
seniors who have more positive attitudes toward the Internet are more likely to use it. Nayak,
Priest, and White (2010) complete the study of attitudes in the Internet use by applying the TAM
to the level of seniors’ Internet usage. These authors conclude that the attitude toward the Internet
use and the health status influence both the activity level and the total time using the Internet. Gen-
der in this study showed a significant impact on the activity level of use, but Nayak et al. exclu-
sively analyze the direct effects of the TAM’s variables and demographics on the use (measured in
terms of the total time in hours and the activity level). Conclusions about how these attitudes
appear, indicating the mediator role of the TAM’s variables in the use emergence, are not shown
in the article mentioned.
Regarding the Internet use, the study of the Internet engagement by the elderly has been also
addressed, though using a qualitative approach. This is the case of the study conducted by Hill,
Beynon-Davies, and Williams (2008). These authors identified the perceptions of various factors,
including practical value, relevance, and affordability as indicators of the nature of attitudes toward
Internet engagement.
The studies mentioned show how the Internet use by the elderly had been addressed without a
clear focus on the perceptions involved in the process of use emergence. Chung, Park, Wang, Fulk,
and McLaughlin (2010) analyze differences in perceptions of online community participation
among nonusers. Nonetheless, in this approach they do not specifically analyze how the Internet use
appears in elderly persons. They collect a heterogeneous sample in terms of age in which only 70 of
the 248 individuals interviewed were older than 55. This is a sample of elders that cannot be treated
as representative of the grey market but could be good enough to capture age differences. In
addition, Pan and Jordan-Marsh (2010) use the TAM as a framework to study the process of Internet
adoption by older adults. However, simple direct effects on Internet use intention and Internet
adoption are shown in this study without discussing the mediator role of each variable of the TAM
(Arning & Ziefle, 2007) and the possibilities for the moderation of age and gender in the complete
TAM (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008).

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392 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

Technology Acceptance Model

TAM (Davis, 1986) has been used as the leading framework to explain and predict how individuals
accept a new technology. TAM predicts that users embrace a new technology when their perceptions
of ease of use and the usefulness of technology are positive (Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, and War-
shaw, 1989). Since then, several revisions and expansions have developed the original model. The
most popular developments have been TAM2 (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) and TAM3 (Venkatesh &
Bala, 2008).
The model enfolds three key variables: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU),
and the potential users’ behavioral intention (BI) to adopt the technology in question (Chung, Park,
Wang, Fulk, & McLaughlin, 2010). A meta-analysis has shown the robustness of paths from PEOU
to PU and from PU to BI (Sun & Zhang, 2006). The model also includes external and antecedent
factors affecting two key variables: PEOU and PU. During the past two decades, more than 70 dif-
ferent variables have been proposed as antecedents of PEOU and PU (Yousafzai et al., 2007a). The
evolution and summaries of previous empirical findings are well presented in a meta-analysis con-
ducted by Lee, Kozar, and Larsen (2003). However, the TAM has been tested with little attention to
moderating factors (Sun & Zhang, 2006; Yousafzai et al., 2007a, 2007b). Our study adopts the four
main constructs from the original TAM model: perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use
(PEOU), the potential users’ behavioral intention (BI), and usage behavior (USE) constructs. The
original TAM has been improved in TAM2 and TAM3. In this research, we use the concept Result
Demonstrability (RES) from TAM2 (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). This is defined as the degree to
which an individual believes that the results of using a system are tangible, observable, and commu-
nicable. RES acts as an important antecedent of PU. Insofar as it is related to the perception of the
elderly about the benefits of being online to develop Internet use (Eastman & Iyer, 2004), it appears
as an important factor in the Internet use process. Finally, the perceived enjoyment (ENJ) has been
adopted from TAM3 (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008). This is defined as the extent to which the activity of
using a specific system is perceived to be enjoyable in its own right, aside from any performance
consequences resulting from system use. The ENJ can be considered an antecedent of the PEOU and
is identified as a key element in the emergence of Internet use in the elderly (McCloskey, 2006; Pan
& Jordan-Marsh, 2010).
Our aim in this article is to understand the Internet use by the elderly. This can be considered as
one of the most heterogeneous groups in the market. This is the reason why we propose the relation-
ships among the TAM’s factors as the baseline model to analyze the Internet use emergence in the
segment of the elderly, as is shown in Figure 1. We study the heterogeneity of this stratum consid-
ering the moderator role of gender, as we discuss in the following section.

The Moderator Role of Gender

Although some studies call for the need to collect data on potential moderators and criticize the lack
of analysis of moderating effects (Adams, Nelson, & Todd, 1992; Agarwal & Karahanna, 2000),
research employing the TAM has rarely included moderators or treated potential moderators as
antecedents of use without a characterization of the real differences across the natural groups that
can be identified using demographics (Nayak, Priest, & White, 2010). Few studies have incorporated
moderators and found a significant role of moderating factors in the TAM (Gefen & Straub, 1997;
Sun & Zhang, 2006; Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003).
Moderators that have been suggested but remain largely untested include individual factors
(e.g., gender, age, experience, intellectual capacity, and cultural background) and technology factors
(e.g., purpose and complexity and organizational factors such as voluntariness and profession). Sun
and Zhang (2006) explained that the inclusion of moderators could improve the explanatory power

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Ramón-Jerónimo et al. 393

Gender

RES PU

BI USE

ENJ PEOU

Figure 1. Technology acceptance model (TAM).

of the model and overcome the inconsistencies in the relationships between the key variables shown
in previous studies.
Gefen and Straub (1997) consider that although technology such as electronic mail may be used to a
similar extent by both males and females, their perception of the service is different. Zhang (2009) also
analyzes the influence of gender on the two key variables of the TAM (usefulness and ease of use) and
ratifies the greater effect of these variables considering gender differences. Men tend to be more
task-oriented (Minton & Schneider, 1980), systems-oriented (Baron-Cohen, 2004), and willing to take
risks than women (Powell & Ansic, 1997). In line with the task-orientation difference, Venkatesh
and Morris (2000) find that men’s decisions to use a computer system were more influenced by the
perceived usefulness than in the case of women. Rodgers and Harris (2003) have found men to be more
satisfied with online shopping than women and McCloskey (2006) proposes that there may be differ-
ences in the motivation, duration, and enjoyment as electronic consumers across genders.
Empirical findings about the moderator role of gender in the TAM are not conclusive for older
adults. In the specific frame of the elderly, older women have been identified as the less knowledge-
able group regarding security hazards (Grimes, Hough, Mazur, & Signorella, 2010) and recent
research has found no statistically differences between males and females with regard to Internet use
(Shin, 2009). Pan and Jordan-Marsh (2010) argue that older men can be considered more motivated
to perceive usefulness while older women could be more influenced by ease of use. These are
process factors expecting a stronger relationship between PU and BI and PU on Internet adoption
by males than by females and a stronger relationship between the perceived ease of use and the use
intention by female than by male seniors. However, Pan and Jordan-Marsh (2010) did not find
empirical support for their propositions about the moderator role of gender.
How gender moderates the effect of the TAM factors on Internet use would provide a good lens
for examining the different decision-making mechanisms between men and women in the grey pop-
ulation (Pan & Jordan-Marsh, 2010). In general, the moderator role of gender depends on the level of
acceptance of the technology: When the penetration and acceptance of technologies increases, the
moderator effect of gender diminishes (Zhou, Dai, & Zhang, 2007). Also gender-derived differences
can be considered extremely slight in a sample of individuals with prior experience of the IT under
study (Hernández et al., 2011). Consequently, and considering the low level of Internet penetration
for elderly persons, we expect to find a moderator effect of gender on the TAM in this segment. This
means that the relationship between the factors proposed in the baseline model under study would
present differences in terms of intensity across genders.

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394 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

Table 1. Demographics.

Male (%) Female (%) Total (%)

Age
50–59 33.54 10.84 25.82
60–69 52.17 70.48 58.40
Over 70 14.29 18.67 15.78
Education
None 1.25 1.20 1.23
Primary school 18.69 14.97 17.42
Secondary school 53.58 45.51 50.82
University 26.48 38.32 30.53
In retirement
Yes 78.21 89.32 82.63
No 21.79 10.68 17.37

The cognitive process of older adults is totally different from other groups of the population and
no conclusive results have been supported in previous studies of gender differences in seniors. Add-
ing to this the consideration that women and men use different socially constructed cognitive struc-
tures to encode and process information and the level of acceptance of Internet in the older segment
being low, we expect that gender will play a moderator role on the TAM factors’ relationships (Ping,
1998; Zhou, Dai, & Zhang, 2007), as is shown in Figure 1.

Hypothesis: The gender moderates the relationships between the TAM’s variables proposed in
Figure 1.

Data
Our survey was constructed considering established measures of TAM (Venkatesh & Bala 2008)
adapted to the context of our proposed model. Specifically, the measure of USE has been extracted
from Kwon and Wen (2010). All items were anchored on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 ¼ strongly
disagree; 5 ¼ strongly agree), except for sociodemographics and other variables related to the use of
the computer and the Internet. To eliminate possible ambiguities in the questionnaire, it was piloted
using seven older adult volunteers from ‘‘the Classroom Experience’’ at the University.
One requirement to be enrolled in the program of the Classroom Experience is to be a minimum
of 50 years old. Previous research has shown different minimum levels for the age to study the adop-
tion of ICTs of elderly persons and their online behavior. Since there is not a clear definition of the
age to consider a person in the group of elderly persons, in our research we use the limit mentioned
following the previous works of Lee (2010) and Czaja, Lee, Nair, and Sharit (2008). However, other
research considers the age of 55 (Chung et al., 2010; Sum, Mathews, Hughes, & Campbell, 2008;
Vuori & Holmlund-Rytkönen, 2005) or that of 65 (Eastman & Iyer, 2004; Iyer & Eastman, 2006;
Koopman-Boyden & Reid, 2009; Reisenwitz et al., 2007) as a minimum. Data were collected using
a survey conducted during the teaching hours of the classroom experience in which the collaboration
of the students of the four levels of the program was required. These multidisciplinary studies
include courses in arts and humanities, science, health science, social science and law, engineering,
and architecture. Data collection was conducted during the moths of March and April 2011. Finally,
we collected 492 complete questionnaires. The final composition of the sample is shown in Table 1.
Although the sample cannot be considered as representative of the population insofar as convenience
samples often rely on voluntary participation to obtain data, our sample is diverse. Consequently, the
analysis based on covariance focusing on the significance of the relationships should be resistant to
sample bias (Blair & Zinkham, 2006).

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Ramón-Jerónimo et al. 395

Analysis and Results

Considering gender, the sample was split into two groups. Group 1, males, was made up of 168 indi-
viduals, and the Group 2 of 324 females. Differences across groups in terms of means and covariance
matrices were tested and the scales proposed were validated evaluating configural and metric invar-
iance across groups (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1998). To do so, we ran different multigroup
analyses using the structural equation models software EQS. The resulting measurement model is
shown in Table 2. Convergent validity was tested. As is shown in Table 2, all standardized loading
factors presented values over 0.6 and the model fit of the measurement model can be considered
acceptable. Discriminant validity was tested using two different approaches (Bagozzi, 1994;
Bagozzi & Yi, 2012).
First, we calculated the confidence intervals for correlations using their standard errors (in
brackets in Table 2). None of the intervals included the value 1. Additionally, we ran one second
measurement model constraining correlations equal to 1 for each group. The results of the lagrange
multiplier (LM) test showed the need to relax these constraints and there were significant differences
in terms of model fit between the constrained and the unconstrained model (w2 difference ¼
1,548.769; df difference ¼ 35; p value < .001). Consequently, we can conclude that concepts
included in the model present discriminant validity. Once the measurement model had been
evaluated, we continue showing the results for the hypothesis posited.
In the model proposed, RES and PEOU act as antecedents of PU, ENJ affects PEOU and PEOU and
PU determine BI exclusively, being BI the only antecedent of USE (see Figure 1). In other words, a
critical assumption of the TAM is that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness fully mediate the
influence of external variables on the USE emergence (Arning & Ziefle, 2007). In this point, we ques-
tion if the mediator role of these variables is pure or if there are direct effects not considered a priori
that could improve the model fit. Complementary mediation is tested in this analysis (if both the
mediated and the direct effect exist and point in the same direction; Zhao, Lynch, & Chen, 2010).
Results show how all the factors involved in the model presented significant and direct relationships
with some other factors (direct relationships identified are shown in Figure 2). The inclusion of these
effects improved the model fit—using the LM test estimations as an orientation—with the exception of
two relationships: PU with USE and RES with BI (model fit indices for the model originally proposed:
w2 ¼ 1,505.425, df ¼385, p value < .001; Satorra-Bentler w2 ¼ 807.280; p value < .001; Robust com-
parative fit index (CFI) ¼ .901; robust root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) ¼ .067.
Model fit indices for the partial (Iacobucci, Saldanha, & Deng, 2007) or also called complementary
mediation (Zhao et al., 2010) are w2 ¼ 1,311.849, df ¼ 379; p value < .001; Satorra-Bentler w2 ¼
736.695; p value < .001 robust CFI ¼ .920 and robust RMSEA ¼ .062; being the difference of model
fit significant: w2 difference ¼ 193.576 df ¼ 6; p value < .001). The decrease in the w2 value including
the direct and significant effects identified (see Figure 2) improved the model fit, thus showing the
partial moderation of the variables under question. Consequently, we tested gender differences consid-
ering the partial mediation role of PU, PEOU, and BI.
To estimate the parameters under study, we used multigroup testing moderation across gender
categories for all the relationships shown in Figure 2 and we calculated w2 differences in the model
fit between the constrained and unconstrained model for each of them (Ping, 1998).
The hypothesis of moderation was supported for two relationships: The effects of ENJOY on
PEOU and PEOU on PU, as is shown in Table 2, can be considered different across the subgroups.
The model fit for this last model, where these two relationships were unconstrained, can be
considered acceptable (w2 ¼ 1,297.611; df ¼ 377; p value < .001; Robust values: Satorra-Bentler
w2 ¼ 691.3207; p value < .001; Robust model fits: RMSEA ¼ .058; CFI ¼ .927; non-normed fit
index [NNFI] ¼ .918; incremental fit index [IFI] ¼ .927). Consequently, we find support for the
hypothesis of the moderation for these two relationships.

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396 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

Table 2. Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Measurement Model.

Loading Loading
Factors Error Factors Error
Factors and items for Male Male for Female Female

Perceived Usefulness (PU)—CR Male ¼ .859 CR Female ¼ .799

PU1 : Using Internet improves my performance in my tasks .895 .446 .799 .601
PU2 : Using Internet in my tasks increases my productivity .847 .532 .786 .619
PU3 : Using Internet enhances my effectiveness in my tasks .849 .529 .720 .694
PU4 : I find Internet to be useful in my tasks .884 .468 .831 .556
Perceived ease of use (PEOU)—CR Male ¼ .846 CR Female ¼ .798
PEOU1: My interaction with Internet is clear and .862 .506 .767 .642
understandable
PEOU2: Interacting with Internet does not require a lot of .811 .585 .733 .681
my mental effort
PEOU3: I find Internet to be easy to use .890 .456 .835 .550
PEOU4: I find it easy to get Internet to do what I want it to do .834 .551 .797 .604
Result demonstrability (RES)—CR Male ¼ .853 CR Female ¼ .843
RES1: I have no difficulty telling others about the results of .862 .507 .815 .579
using Internet
RES2: I believe I could communicate to others the .901 .434 .846 .534
consequences of using Internet
RES3: The results of using Internet are apparent to me .853 .521 .885 .466
RES4: I would have difficulty explaining why using Internet .820 .573 .837 .546
may be or may not be beneficial
Perceived enjoyment (ENJ)—CR Male ¼ .851 CR Female ¼ .844
ENJ1: I find using Internet to be enjoyable .914 .405 .902 .433
ENJ2: The actual process of using Internet is pleasant .902 .433 .926 .378
ENJ3: I have fun using Internet .937 .349 .922 .386
Behavioral Intention (BI)—CR Male ¼ .808 CR Female ¼ .802
BI1: Assuming I had access to Internet, I intend to use it. .610 .792 .562 .827
BI2: Given that I had access to Internet, I predict that I .882 .472 .896 .445
would use it.
BI3: I plan to use Internet in the next months. .902 .431 .890 .456
Use (USE)—CR Male ¼ .820 CR Female ¼ .795
USE1: I tend to use Internet frequently .752 .659 .760 .650
USE2: I spend a lot of time on Internet .931 .366 .885 .465
USE3: I exerted myself to Internet .899 .438 .863 .505
Correlations, standard errors, and AVE across groups
Means RES ENJ PU PEOU BI USE
RES 3.923/3.825 .500/.605 .715 (.024) .796 (.022) .813 (.021) .716 (.026) .629 (.033)
ENJ 3.844/3.703 .712 (.026) .498/.579 .739 (.024) .726 (.025) .740 (.023) .651 (.029)
PU 4.040/3.972 .747 (.024) .723 (.024) .574/.592 .751 (.026) .738 (.026) .621 (.035)
PEOU 3.789/3.581 724 (.026) .776 (.021) .838 (.017) .678/.680 .745 (.026) .676 (.032)
BI 3.143/3.059 .798 (.023) .833 (.019) .839 (.018) .795 (.022) .525/.537 .642 (.033)
USE 4.012/3.775 .640 (.030) .739 (.024) .584 (.031) .635 (.029) .716 (.027) .565/.605

Note. (1) Male and female means appear in the lower and the upper side of the column ‘‘means.’’ (2) Male and female correla-
tions are shown, respectively, in the lower and upper sides of the matrix. (3) Standard errors for each correlation appear in
parentheses. (4) The values of the AVE for male and female appear in the lower and the upper sides of the diagonal, respec-
tively. (5) Measurement model fit: w2: 999.626 df ¼ 363 p value < .001; comparative fit index (CFI) ¼ .928; Robust: Satorra-
Bentler w2 ¼ 546.683 p value < .001; CFI ¼ .959; robust root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) ¼ .045. (6) CR
Females and CR Males mean Composite Reliability for females and males, respectively.

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Ramón-Jerónimo et al. 397

Gender

RES PU

BI USE

ENJ PEOU

Figure 2. TAM for elderly persons.

Note. Stressed lines show stronger effects for males than females.

Discussion, Limitations, and Further Research

Consumers’ age has been traditionally considered an important basis for market segmentation.
However, the identification of a homogeneous elderly group of consumers is a difficult task insofar
as elderly persons show a differential sensitivity in processing information (Cole & Houston, 1987).
This is manifested in a high heterogeneity in this stratum of the population (Phillips & Sternthal,
1977). Elderly people tend to become more dissimilar in terms of their needs, lifestyles, and con-
sumption habits (Szmigin & Carrigan, 2001). Elderly buying behavior is totally different from other
groups. For instance, age has a significant impact on the number of information sources they use, the
number of brands they consider, presents a stronger change aversion (Lambert-Pandraud, Laurent, &
Lapersonne, 2005) and is negatively associated with the perceived ease of use of the Internet (Porter &
Donthu, 2006). When age increases, the innovativeness decreases with long-known options tending
to be preferred instead of seeking out novel information (Lambert-Pandraud & Laurent, 2010). Tech-
nology anxiety also increases with age (Meuter, Ostrom, Bitner, & Roundtree, 2003). Yet, older adults
might already appreciate the potential usefulness of the Internet. If marketers have been successful in
getting older consumers to overcome perceptions about difficulty and cost, those elderly with positive
experiences will have reinforced the relative value of using the Internet (Porter & Donthu, 2006).
The aim of this work was to better understand the heterogeneity of this stratum of the population
when they confront the Internet use, by applying the TAM for elderly persons. There are few
previous studies in this sense and none of them puts into question the mediator role of the TAM’s
factors for elders (Arning & Ziefle, 2007) analyzing differences across gender. In this vein, our study
can be considered as a step further in the understanding of the Internet use by the elderly. Results
show how this segment develops its Internet use in a more complicated way than has been consid-
ered in previous studies of TAM (see Figure 2; Cresci et al., 2010; Pan & Jordan-Marsh, 2010).
Specifically, BI is not the single driver of USE, RES, and ENJOY and PEOU also have a direct and
positive effect on USE. In the same way, PU and PEOU also receive an effect from ENJ and RES,
respectively. Finally, BI receives a direct and positive effect from ENJ. All these relationships high-
light the important role played by RES and ENJOY on the USE (Table 3). The identified effect of PU
on Internet use in the elderly population is consistent with the findings of Pan and Jordan-Marsh
(2010). In the cell phone adoption by older people, direct effects of PEOU on USE and ENJOY
on PU were also significant (Conci, Pianesi, & Zancanaro, 2009). However, none of these studies

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398 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

Table 3. The Moderator Effect of Gender.

Effect Malea Femalea w2b w2 diffc df p Value

ENJOY on USE .272 (6.147) .272 (6.147) 1309.818 2.031 1 .154

PEOU on USE .186 (3.227) .186 (3.227) 1311.846 0.003 1 .956
BI on USE .242 (3.479) .242 (3.479) 1311.315 0.534 1 .465
RES on USE .129 (2.900) .129 (2.900) 1311.697 0.152 1 .697
ENJOY on BI .132 (3.314) .132 (3.314) 1309.591 2.258 1 .133
PU on BI .260 (6.231) .260 (6.231) 1308.235 3.614 1 .057
PEOU on BI .453 (6.266) .453 (6.266) 1309.153 2.696 1 .101
RES on PEOU .458 (13.934) .458 (13.934) 1311.532 0.317 1 .573
ENJOY on PEOU .470 (12.799) .321 (10.032) 1304.399 7.45 1 .006
RES on PU .306 (8.350) .306 (8.350) 1310.393 1.456 1 .228
ENJOY on PU .234 (7.230) .234 (7.230) 1310.533 1.316 1 .251
PEOU on PU .456 (9.614) .285 (5.139) 1304.26 7.589 1 .006
ENJOY on PEOU and PEOU on PU 1297.611 14.238 2 .001
Completely Constrained model 1311.849 379
a
The parameters showed correspond with the final model accepted where the effect of ENJOY on PEOU and PEOU on PU
were unconstrained, then nonstandardized solution is shown with this format: parameter (t value).
b 2
w of the model considering relaxing the corresponding relationship.
c 2
w difference of the completely constrained model and the corresponding unconstrained model.
Effects of Enjoy on PEOU and PEOU on PU are significant different across groups at 1% (shown in boldface); Both parameters
ENJOU on PEOU and PEOU on PU are significant different across groups at 1% (shown in boldface).

considered the specific role of RES nor analyzed the moderator role of gender on all the relationships
proposed in the classical TAM (Figure 1) neither in the TAM for elders (Figure 2). While classical
approaches consider BI the main factor affecting USE (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008), the role of RES and
ENJ seem to be different in the case of elderly persons. They act as drivers, not only as they contribute
to the emergence of PU, PEOU, and BI but also because they directly affect USE. Elderly persons
present different cognitive processes and consequently it seems reasonable for them to have different
paths to develop an intention to use the Internet (Slegers et al., 2012). Elders often do not realize how
much their abilities have changed and how gradually the adaptation to a technology has occurred
(Hough & Kobylansky, 2009). To develop specific offers for the elderly on the Internet, the differences
in the human capabilities and perceptions that most affect successful use must first be understood. In
this sense, our results support the idea that new solutions must be based on design principles, mainly in
joy of use, perceived ease of use, result demonstrability and, to a lesser extent, usefulness. These are
aspects to be included in an offer that must be properly communicated to this segment.
The identification of groups of elders presenting differences in the Internet use could refine the
strategies to overcome the barriers to the Internet and highlight an appropriate offer for this segment.
With this idea in mind, in our analysis we capture the heterogeneity across elders controlling gender
differences using multisample analysis. The results show more intense relationships between ENJ
and PEOU and PEOU and PU for the male sample. These results are to some extent consistent with
previous analysis. Indeed, as Pan and Jordan-Marsh (2010) found out, there is not empirical support
for gender differences in the relationships between PU and BI and between the perceived ease of use
and the use intention. However, contrary to previous results, PEOU seems to play an important role
in capturing differences across genders: A more enjoyable experience would lead to a higher PEOU
for males than females which would finally develop a higher perception of usefulness. Both PU and
PEOU are key variables in the behavioral intention emergence and the perceived ease of use directly
and indirectly provokes higher values of use.
It is important to remark that the TAM presents differences across gender in the senior segment
inconsistent with previous results. Our results point to unique gender differences in this segment.

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Ramón-Jerónimo et al. 399

Illie, Van Slyke, and Lou (2005), Ong and Lai (2006), Chinyamurindi and Low (2010), and Riquelme
and Rı́os (2010) found a stronger relationship for women than men between PEOU and PU. They
argue that men’s rate of self-efficacy/computer self-efficacy is higher than women’s and consequently
they expected, and their results finally supported the relationship between these two variables to be
stronger for females than males. The lower computer self-efficacy for women (Venkatesh & Morris,
2000) and the stronger effect of ease of use to compensate it cannot be concluded for elders. In this
case, the Internet application being easier to use might be more valued as useful to men and perceived
as easier if it is enjoyable. There is an age when changes in behavioral responses occur (Phillips &
Sternthal, 1977). In this change, the tendency of female consumers to be more cautious than males can
become stronger due to the cognitive decline (Lambert-Pandraud et al., 2005). This provokes a lack of
trust for women that could affect the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use (McCloskey,
2006) and probably the relationship between them. In addition, Slegers, van Boxtel, and Jolles
(2012) conclude that older adults tend to use their computers more for playing games, thus sug-
gesting the need to include a more enjoyable experience in order to motivate elderly persons to
overcome the barriers of their learning disabilities. Further research must focus on the important
role of ease of use for seniors and if other variables such as psychological age and, health percep-
tion, in addition to self-efficacy and the level of caution—not only demographics—could explain
the role of ease of use to show different patterns across segments of seniors. The role played by
ease of use seems to be determinant in the understanding of differences in Internet use and it
appears as a powerful variable to show the heterogeneity of this stratum.
As a consequence, offers and programs and even new product development (NPD) processes
(Reddi & Moon, 2012) may consider differences in terms of gender and age of users. Specifically,
those designed for men over 50 could seek to describe an easy and enjoyable experience in order to
be successful in the market and to really bring elderly persons into the Internet era.
At this point, we want to remark some limitations referring to our work. First, data have been col-
lected in a Mediterranean country where the differences in relation to new technologies and elderly
persons from Anglo-Saxon countries could significantly affect the TAM. No cultural variables had
been taken into account in the current work. In addition, in order to simplify the questionnaire, we did
not include other measures that could be interesting in the study of the Technology acceptance, such as
personality traits that have shown a strong relationship with gender differences in consumption
(Michael & Todd, 2012). We are aware that integrating personality constructs into models of consumer
psychology, demographics, and other individual differences with respect to the phenomena of elderly
persons could be clarified. Elder consumers tend to maintain and repeat behaviors and decline innova-
tiveness (Lambert-Pandraud & Laurent, 2010). Further research could, therefore, include measures of
the previous experience of elders with computer and Internet applications—word processors, Internet
browsers, e-mail, games, calculating, and so on (Slegers et al., 2012). This would make it possible to
differentiate between less and more experienced users and establish their relationship with gender.
Given the difficulty of surveying elderly persons, we decided to contact those we had at our
disposal, and they also constitute, to some extent, the most active part of the elderly population
as they are enrolled in a course at the University. This affects the results and hence they must be
considered as a first approach in the understanding of the elderly.
For a long time, the study of elderly persons mainly belonged to the areas of geriatrics, gerontol-
ogy, medicine, psychology, or sociology. We expect new studies to emerge that will focus on this
currently growing population. We really wish to make a strong appeal for more public policies and
specific programs in order to bring elderly persons into the new era.

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the collaboration of the Classroom Experience at the University of Seville in the data
collection.

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400 Social Science Computer Review 31(4)

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication
of this article: The initiative Andalusia Projects of Excellence has financed this research through the project
P09-SEJ-4568.

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Author Biographies
Marı́a A. Ramón-Jerónimo, PhD, is an associate professor at Pablo de Olavide University, Spain. She parti-
cipates in different research projects related to relationship marketing, innovation, strategy and international
marketing, and results have been published in different journals such as the Journal of Academy of Marketing
Science, Industrial Management & Data Systems, and Journal of Business Research, among others; e-mail:
maramjer@upo.es.
Begoña Peral-Peral, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of Seville. She works in different topics:
technology acceptance model (TAM), marketing channels, and consumer behavior. Her work has been
published in journals, books, and refereed conference proceedings, including Revista de Economı´a Aplicada,
Recent Researchers in Sociology, Financing, Environment & Health Sciences, among others; e-mail:
bperal@us.es.

Jorge Arenas-Gaitán, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Business Management and Market-
ing at the University of Seville. His research interests include global markets, cross-cultural studies, and TAM.
His work has been published in Computers & Education, Journal of Technology Management & Innovation,
among others; e-mail: jarenas@us.es.

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