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Elderly Experience of Smart Objects: How Technology and Family Support Can Make Senior Users Overcome Their Limits
... In paper [13] proposed an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inferences System (IANFIS) model to produce a way of analyzing the sentiment of online products. The method is identically based on natural language processing to track the user's opinion. ...
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how Internet services can improve the well-being of elderly consumers. Drawing on transformative service research (TSR) and technology adoption literature, it examines the main challenges for the elderly when adopting Internet services and how they and their family members can co-create value to improve the elderly service inclusion and well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology is used to identify challenges, value co-creation behaviors and well-being outcomes of elderly individuals and their family members when using Internet services. The data collection method involved 24 in-depth interviews with consumers over 75 years of age and their family members.
Findings
This research first recognizes specific challenges for the elderly in adopting Internet services related to resistance to technology adoption and health impairments. Second, the findings identify value co-creation behaviors held by elderly consumers of Internet services: learning and formal training, complying with indications and seeking help when they encounter problems with technology. Family members also contribute to elderly well-being through two value co-creation behaviors: helping and supporting elderly relatives with technology and being patient and tolerant when they need support. Finally, these behaviors are found to influence five dimensions of elderly consumers’ well-being: enjoyment, personal growth, mastery, autonomy and social connectedness.
Originality/value
This study addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the value co-creation behaviors of elderly consumers of Internet services and their family members for improving well-being outcomes. Understanding value co-creation and well-being for elderly consumers of Internet services is an emerging and under-researched area in TSR and service inclusion literature.
Artificial intelligence (AI) helps companies offer important benefits to consumers, such as health monitoring with wearable devices, advice with recommender systems, peace of mind with smart household products, and convenience with voice-activated virtual assistants. However, although AI can be seen as a neutral tool to be evaluated on efficiency and accuracy, this approach does not consider the social and individual challenges that can occur when AI is deployed. This research aims to bridge these two perspectives: on one side, the authors acknowledge the value that embedding AI technology into products and services can provide to consumers. On the other side, the authors build on and integrate sociological and psychological scholarship to examine some of the costs consumers experience in their interactions with AI. In doing so, the authors identify four types of consumer experiences with AI: (1) data capture, (2) classification, (3) delegation, and (4) social. This approach allows the authors to discuss policy and managerial avenues to address the ways in which consumers may fail to experience value in organizations’ investments into AI and to lay out an agenda for future research.
Framed by domestication theory, affordances and use genres, this study explores early adopters’ uses of smart speaker assistants (SSAs), like Amazon Echo (Alexa) and Google Home. Based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews, we develop a typology of use genres, and describe spatially distributed uses. The interviews revealed six use genres that go beyond the well-known convenience and entertainment. Specifically, the use genres of companionship, self-control and productivity, sleep aid, health care, peace of mind and increased accessibility emerged from participants’ accounts. In addition, we found spatially distributed uses based on the users’ perception of the spatial affordances of SSAs. These spatially distributed uses lead us to propose the process of externalization as a necessary extension of domestication theory for the appropriation of networked devices.
Conversational agents (CAs) are software-based systems designed to interact with humans using natural language and have attracted considerable research interest in recent years. Following the Computers Are Social Actors paradigm, many studies have shown that humans react socially to CAs when they display social cues such as small talk, gender, age, gestures, or facial expressions. However, research on social cues for CAs is scattered across different fields, often using their specific terminology, which makes it challenging to identify, classify, and accumulate existing knowledge. To address this problem, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify an initial set of social cues of CAs from existing research. Building on classifications from interpersonal communication theory, we developed a taxonomy that classifies the identified social cues into four major categories (i.e., verbal, visual, auditory, invisible) and ten subcategories. Subsequently, we evaluated the mapping between the identified social cues and the categories using a card sorting approach in order to verify that the taxonomy is natural, simple, and parsimonious. Finally, we demonstrate the usefulness of the taxonomy by classifying a broader and more generic set of social cues of CAs from existing research and practice. Our main contribution is a comprehensive taxonomy of social cues for CAs. For researchers, the taxonomy helps to systematically classify research about social cues into one of the taxonomy's categories and corresponding subcategories. Therefore, it builds a bridge between different research fields and provides a starting point for interdisciplinary research and knowledge accumulation. For practitioners, the taxonomy provides a systematic overview of relevant categories of social cues in order to identify, implement, and test their effects in the design of a CA.
Voice has become a widespread and commercially viable interaction mechanism with the introduction of voice assistants (VAs), such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana. Despite their prevalence, we do not have a detailed understanding of how these technologies are used in domestic spaces. To understand how people use VAs, we conducted interviews with 19 users, and analyzed the log files of 82 Amazon Alexa devices, totaling 193,665 commands, and 88 Google Home Devices, totaling 65,499 commands. In our analysis, we identified music, search, and IoT usage as the command categories most used by VA users. We explored how VAs are used in the home, investigated the role of VAs as scaffolding for Internet of Things device control, and characterized emergent issues of privacy for VA users. We conclude with implications for the design of VAs and for future research studies of VAs.
This study examined effects of self-disclosure on relationship closeness with an Internet of Things (IoT) conversational agent (IoT-CA) and attributions of responsibility. Participants and IoT-CAs worked as dyads for two interdependent-outcome tasks: a creativity and a learning task (for measuring dyadic creativity ability and IoT-CAs' understanding of people's preferences, respectively). Dyadic success or failure feedback was determined. Results showed in contrast to self-serving bias (SSB), people did not credit personal responsibility for dyadic success or blame the IoT-CA for dyadic failure. However, when people had previously engaged in self-disclosure with IoT-CAs, they showed reversed SSB, and tended to attribute success to the IoT-CA and accept more personal responsibility for failure. The effect of self-disclosure on attributions of responsibility was mediated by closeness of the relationship. In terms of attributions of responsibility between tasks, people who engaged in self-disclosure with IoT-CAs believed IoT-CAs understood them more and were more likely to attribute success to the learning task. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS • Voice interaction is becoming the mainstream mode of human-computer interaction. • Intimate self-disclosure effectively induced closeness between IoT-CAs and individuals. • People may tolerate and even accept imperfection in their personal agent. • Participants' attribution style may affect their SSB when interacting with computer.
While previous studies of Conversational Agents (e.g. Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa and Cortana) have focused on evaluating usability and exploring capabilities of these systems, little work has examined users' affective experiences. In this paper we present a survey study with 171 participants to examine CA users' affective experiences. Specifically, we present four major usage scenarios, users' affective responses in these scenarios, and the factors which influenced the affec-tive responses. We found that users' overall experience was positive with interest being the most salient positive emotion. Affective responses differed depending on the scenarios. Both pragmatic and hedonic qualities influenced affect. The factors underlying pragmatic quality are: helpfulness, proac-tivity, fluidity, seamlessness and responsiveness. The factors underlying hedonic quality are: comfort in human-machine conversation, pride of using cutting-edge technology, fun during use, perception of having a human-like assistant, concern about privacy and fear of causing distraction. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI).
Amazon Alexa is a voice-controlled application that is rapidly gaining popularity. We examined user interactions with this technology, and focused on the types of tasks requested of Alexa, the variables that affect user behaviors with Alexa, and Alexa’s alternatives. The data about Alexa usage were collected from 19 participants via the online questionnaire and diary methods over the course of several days. The results indicate that across all age groups, Alexa was primarily used for checking weather forecasts, playing music, and controlling other devices. Several participants reported using Apple Siri and Google Now applications in addition to Alexa for similar purposes except for controlling other devices. Alexa uses over the weekends were more frequent than on weekdays, but its overall usage tended to decrease over time. The users reported being satisfied with Alexa even when it did not produce sought information, suggesting that the interaction experience is more important to the users than the interaction output. More work is required to understand whether users treat Alexa and similar voice-controlled applications as primarily a traditional information retrieval system, a casual leisure system, a control interface for smart home devices, or, simply, a new toy.
The conversational nature of intelligent personal assistants (IPAs) has the potential to trigger personification tendencies in users, which in turn can translate into consumer loyalty and satisfaction. We conducted a study of Amazon Alexa usage and explored the manifestations and possible correlates of users' personification of Alexa. The data were collected via diary instrument from nineteen Alexa users over four days. Less than half of the participants reported personification behaviors. Most of the personification reports can be characterized as mindless politeness (saying 'thank you' and 'please' to Alexa). Two participants expressed deeper personification by confessing their love and reprimanding Alexa. A new study is underway to understand whether expressions of personifications are caused by users' emotional attachments or skepticism about technology's intelligence.
This one-day workshop intends to bring together both academics and industry practitioners to explore collaborative challenges in speech interaction. Recent improvements in speech recognition and computing power has led to conversational interfaces being introduced to many of the devices we use every day, such as smartphones, watches, and even televisions. These interfaces allow us to get things done, often by just speaking commands, relying on a reasonably well understood single-user model. While research on speech recognition is well established, the social implications of these interfaces remain underexplored, such as how we socialise, work, and play around such technologies, and how these might be better designed to support collaborative collocated talk-in-action. Moreover, the advent of new products such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home, which are positioned as supporting multi-user interaction in collocated environments such as the home, makes exploring the social and collaborative challenges around these products, a timely topic. In the workshop, we will review current practices and reflect upon prior work on studying talk-in-action and collocated interaction. We wish to begin a dialogue that takes on the renewed interest in research on spoken interaction with devices, grounded in the existing practices of the CSCW community.
The Internet of Things (IoT) market is set to grow rapidly. Although IoT offers new opportunities, it nevertheless raises challenges. The objective of this research is to develop a better understanding of the reasons underlying consumer resistance to smart and connected products. To this end, a quantitative survey was carried out to understand resistance to smartwatch. Structural equation modelling was used to test the conceptual model. The findings show that perceived uselessness, perceived price, intrusiveness, perceived novelty and self-efficacy have an impact on consumer resistance to smart products. Moreover, privacy concerns have an effect on intrusiveness and dependence impacts privacy concerns. To our best knowledge, this is the first research studying smart products through a resistance approach.
The Internet of Things (IoT) and, particularly, wearable products have changed the focus of the healthcare industry to prevention programmes that enable people to become active and take responsibility for their own health. These benefits will only materialise, however, if users adopt and continue to use these products, as opposed to abandoning them shortly after purchase. Our study investigates how the characteristics of the device, the context and the user can support the adoption and the sustained use of health and fitness wearables. We find that the factors that support the former differ from those that support the latter. For instance, features that signal the device’s ability to collect activity data are essential for adoption, whereas device portability and resilience are key for sustained use.
The purpose of this study was to develop and test a senior technology acceptance model (STAM) aimed at understanding the acceptance of gerontechnology by older Hong Kong Chinese people. The proposed STAM extended previous technology acceptance models and theories by adding age-related health and ability characteristics of older people. The proposed STAM was empirically tested using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey with a sample of 1012 seniors aged 55 and over in Hong Kong. The result showed that STAM was strongly supported and could explain 68% of the variance in the use of gerontechnology. For older Hong Kong Chinese, individual attributes, which include age, gender, education, gerontechnology self-efficacy and anxiety, and health and ability characteristics, as well as facilitating conditions explicitly and directly affected technology acceptance. These were better predictors of gerontechnology usage behaviour (UB) than the conventionally used attitudinal factors (usefulness and ease of use). Practitioner Summary: Previous studies have not given much consideration to age-related health and associated abilities when examining acceptance of technology by the ageing population. By encompassing conventional technology acceptance constructs together with age-related health and ability characteristics, the present study was able to identify more factors affecting gerontechnology acceptance by older Hong Kong Chinese.
Background:
"The graying of the globe" has resulted in exponential rise in health care expenses, over-worked health care professionals and a growing patient base suffering from multiple chronic diseases, one of which is diabetes. Consumer health technologies (CHT) are considered important catalysts for empowering health care consumers to take a proactive role in managing their health and related costs. Adoption rate and usability of such devices among the aging is far from being satisfactory. Past studies noted the motivation for adoption by the aging is dependent on the suitability/relevance, perceived usability and anticipated benefits associated with usage of technological innovation. Traditional information technology (IT) development adopts a systematic approach without necessarily using a specific user model that personalizes the system to the aging user groups. The aging patient population has unique needs arising from progressive deterioration in both physiological and psychological abilities. These needs are often ignored in the design, development, trial and adoption of consumer health products resulting in low adoption and usage.
Objectives:
The main objective of this research is to investigate the user-centered design (UCD), specifically user profiles and personas, as methodological tools to inform the design and development of CHT devices for an aging population. The adoption of user profile and persona has not received much attention in health care informatics research and, in particular, research involving CHT. Our work begins to fill this void in three ways. We (1) illuminate the process of developing CHT user profiles and personas for a Chinese elder population with a demanding health care needs, i.e., self-management of chronic diabetes, with the hope that the resulting profiles and personas may be used as foundational material for informing the design, development and evaluation of CHT in other similar contexts; (2) call attention to how to further enhance and complement traditional user profile and persona techniques for CHT design by integrating cognitive structures and present behavior that drive health care thinking, future behavior and demand; (3) show how the profiles and personas can be used to inform requirements, design and implementation decisions for a technology aimed at facilitating CHT adoption and diffusion for the elderly.
Methodology:
To exemplify process and application, we use an action-research methodology, where user profiles and personas of an aging patient population were developed. The resultant profiles and personas were leveraged to improve the design, development and implementation plans of a smart phone application to assist chronically ill aging Chinese diabetic population capable of disease self-management.
Results:
The results from the study show that user profile and persona can be a valuable methodological approach in capturing the conceptual model of the aging and informing the design and development decisions of CHT. The demonstration of techniques used in this study can serve as a guideline to CHT developers in bringing conceptual user modeling into the design of software interfaces targeted for users with specific health care needs. Specifically, the study provides guidance on the creation and use of profiles and personas to tap into the conceptual models of the targeted elderly population reflecting their preferences, capabilities and attitudes towards using technology in self-management care in general and the smart phone diabetes management application in particular. Insight into the mental model of the aging group has been shown to inform later stages of UCD development (e.g., the creation of prototypes and usability testing) as well as implementation and adoption strategies. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by 2025, 80% of all new cases of diabetes are expected to appear in the developing countries. In fact, the number of diabetic patients in China is estimated to rise to 42.3 million in 2030 from 20.8 million in 2000. Thus, we investigate the Chinese aging population in order to demonstrate the process of developing and using user profile and persona. We hope that the resultant conceptual model of the Chinese aging diabetic population can be used in future research to guide CHT designers interested in designing health care devices for this vulnerable user group.
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the impact of mobile service experience on trust of elderly consumers in their financial institution and assess whether age (55–64 years vs 65+ years) exerts a moderating influence.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered questionnaire was completed online by 390 panelists (aged 55 years or more) who use their mobile devices to conduct banking activities. A multigroup analysis was conducted to assess the moderating role of age.
Findings
Results confirm the presence of links between four out of five dimensions of the mobile banking service experience (cognitive, positive affective/sensory, negative affective and social) and trust. Findings further point to age-specific variation in the impact of mobile service experience dimensions on trust, thus supporting the notion that the elderly represents a clientele with different experiential needs. More specifically, whereas the social dimension has a greater influence on trust in individuals 65 years of age and over (seniors), the positive affective/sensory dimension exerts a deeper marked impact on trust in individuals 55–64 years of age (pre-retirees).
Research limitations/implications
Although generations and chronological age are powerful segmentation variables, it might be interesting to consider perceived age. Redoing the study in a post-COVID context would also be an interesting avenue of research.
Practical implications
The ageing market is important for banks. This study highlights, in an m-banking context, which dimension of experience to focus on in order to improve trust in banks for pre-retirees (emotional/sensory dimension) and seniors (social dimension).
Originality/value
This study is the first to consider mobile service experience of elderly individuals as well as the impact of each of the experience dimensions on an important relational variable, namely trust. By considering the age of individuals as a moderating variable, this study also provides an in-depth examination of age-related links and presents a number of relevant recommendations for financial institutions.
Customers increasingly orchestrate their everyday activities with the support of technology, with services increasingly adopting AI-based applications. Yet, research is still in its infancy and has been largely conceptual. Therefore, based on data collected from 238 young consumers, analyzed using PLS-SEM, this study focuses on users’ motivations to adopt intelligent digital voice assistants in service encounters. Findings show that functional, social and relational elements drive adoption, untangle crossover effects between them and reveal the moderating role of experience and need for human interaction. While empirically validating and extending the Service Robot Acceptance Model by Wirtz and colleagues, this study provides evidence that anthropomorphism is not universally positive and adds a new perspective regarding the underexplored role of customer-robot rapport building. The study contributes to a more holistic understanding of digital voice assistants’ adoption. and provides managerial guidance on how to successfully implement such technologies.
A personal intelligent agent (PIA) is a system that acts intelligently to assist a human using natural language. Examples include Siri and Alexa. These agents are powerful computer programs that operate autonomously and proactively, learn and adapt to change, react to the environment, complete tasks within a favorable timeframe and communicate with the user using natural language to process commands and compose replies. PIAs are different from other systems previously explored in Information Systems (IS) due to their personalized, intelligent, and human-like behavior. Drawing on research in IS and Artificial Intelligence, we build and test a model of user adoption of PIAs leveraging their uique characteristics. Analysis of data collected from an interactive lab-based study for new PIA users confirms that both perceived intelligence and anthropomorphism are significant antecedents of PIA adoption. Our findings contribute to the understanding of a quickly-changing and fast-growing set of technologies that extend users’ capabilities and their sense of self .
Aging of the population, an increased life expectancy, and the need for an independent living are already widely recognized social changes that put a massive pressure on the healthcare system. In this context, the inclusion and involvement of elders in the IT society is mandatory. Assistive technology (technology designed to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of older adults,), due to its impressive evolution, is believed to be capable of solving the gap between the wishes of the elders and their needs. Although a wide range of technology is present in the daily lives of seniors, directly dealing with it can be frustrating and stigmatizing especially due to the lack of ease of use. It is erroneously considered that technology design is already user-friendly. Considering the deterioration of physical and cognitive abilities, the present paper is a theoretical overview on the most important design principles and device features needed to fulfill the elders’ needs. This review can serve as a starting point for researchers and practitioners in their endeavor to design more suitable technology for older people.
Wearable healthcare technology (WHT) has the potential to improve access to healthcare information especially to the older population and empower them to play an active role in self-management of their health. Despite their potential benefits, the acceptance and usage of WHT among the elderly are considerably low. However, little research has been conducted to describe any systematic study of the elderly's intention to adopt WHT. The objective of this study was to develop a theoretical model on the basis of extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) with additional constructs- resistance to change, technology anxiety, and self-actualization, to investigate the key predictors of WHT adoption by elderly. The model used in the current study was analyzed in two steps. In the first step, a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to determine significant determinants that affect the adoption of WHT. In the second step, a neural network model was applied to validate the findings in step 1 and establish the relative importance of each determinant to the adoption of WHT. The findings revealed that social influence, performance expectancy, functional congruence, self-actualization, and hedonic motivation had a positive relationship with the adoption of WHT. In addition, technology anxiety and resistance to change posed important but negative influences on WHT acceptance. Surprisingly, the study did not find any significant relationship between effort expectancy and facilitating conditions with behavioral intention to use WHT by the elderly. The results of this research have strong theoretical contributions to the existing literature of WHT. It also provides valuable information for WHT developers and social planners in the design and execution of WHT for the elderly.
With the rapid aging of the world population and the tendency to focus on appearances, the demand for cosmetics for the elderly is likely to keep rising. Therefore, it is necessary to develop cosmetics for the elderly. In this study, we aimed at studying the perception and attitude toward makeup of New Seniors at the pre‐elderly stage, assessing a strategy to approach them and evaluating their needs through the analysis of their effective behaviors related to makeup. We conducted in‐depth interviews and participant observation through video recording. The results showed that New Seniors had a prejudice against makeup in the elderly, their generation did not enjoy using makeup, and they tend to wear makeup to look younger rather than prettier. Also, they need training in how to apply makeup and use products that meet their needs, are easy to use, and produce effects that stand out.
Purpose
Consumers are increasingly connected to, and make use of, a multitude of technologies in their daily lives. The exponential growth in the use of Internet of Things (IoT)-based services is ushering in a new era of e-services, in which the service experience is becoming autonomous (intelligence), devices are intercommunicating (connectivity) and consumers can access the service anytime, anywhere and using any device (ubiquity). However, a number of challenges have arisen. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that reduce consumer resistance to smart services (factors against resistance) and factors that promote this resistance (factors for resistance), by means of a dual-factor approach.
Design/methodology/approach
To test this theoretical model, the authors developed a Web-based survey and used structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results show that consumer-lifestyle factors (individual “mobiquity” and self-image congruence) reduce consumer resistance to smart services (factors against resistance). Conversely, innovation-related factors (perceived security, perceived complexity) and ecosystem-related factors (perceived government surveillance and general skepticism toward IoT) promote consumer resistance to smart services (factors for resistance). In addition, general skepticism toward IoT has a significant positive effect on perceived complexity, perceived security risk and perceived government surveillance.
Originality/value
This research investigates consumer resistance to smart services using a dual-factor perspective (Cenfetelli, 2004; Claudy et al., 2015): factors reducing resistance versus factors promoting resistance. This paper provides evidence for the importance of consumer lifestyle-related factors, innovation-related factors and ecosystem-related factors in explaining consumer resistance to smart services. This work enriches previous studies of consumer resistance to innovation (Ram and Sheth, 1989; Ram, 1987) by studying original variables (individual mobiquity, technological innovativeness, government surveillance).
Artificial Intelligent (AI) In-home Voice Assistants have seen unprecedented growth. However, we have little understanding on the factors motivating individuals to use such devices. Given the unique characteristics of the technology, in the main hands free, controlled
by voice, and the presentation of a voice user interface, the current technology adoption models are not comprehensive enough to explain the adoption of this new technology. Focusing on voice interactions, this research combines the theoretical foundations of U> with technology theories to gain a clearer understanding on the motivations for adopting and using in-home voice assistants. This research presents a conceptual model on the use of voice controlled technology and an empirical validation of the model through the use of Structural
Equation Modelling with a sample of 724 in-home voice assistant users. The findings illustrate that individuals are motivated by the (1) utilitarian benefits, (2) symbolic benefits and (3) social benefits provided by voice assistants, the results found that hedonic benefits
only motivate the use of in-home voice assistants in smaller households. Additionally, the research establishes a moderating role of perceived privacy risks in dampening and negatively influencing the use of in-home voice assistants.
Consumers’ interactions with smart objects have a relational nature, and extensive research has supported the “relationship metaphor” as a fruitful way to understand consumer responses to consumption objects. But, smart objects pose unique challenges for considering the emergence of consumer–object relationships, because their degrees of agency, autonomy, and authority lend them their own unique capacities for interaction. We present a new framework for consumer–object relationships based on the circumplex model of interpersonal complementarity and situated in assemblage theory and object-oriented ontology. Consumer–object relationship styles are defined in terms of two foundational dimensions of behavior, agency, and communion, based on the expressive roles played by consumer and object. The overlay of assemblage theory provides a conceptually rich understanding of the space of master–servant, partner, and unstable relationship styles, along with their concomitant positive (enabling) versus negative (constraining) consumer experiences. The model’s underlying geometry supports extensive empirical work and provides a powerful managerial framework for measuring and tracking consumer–object relationships and the journeys they take over time.
The consumer Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to revolutionize consumer experience. Because consumers can actively interact with smart objects, the traditional, human-centric conceptualization of consumer experience as consumers' internal subjective responses to branded objects may not be sufficient to conceptualize consumer experience in the IoT. Smart objects possess their own unique capacities and their own kinds of experiences in interaction with the consumer and each other. A conceptual framework based on assemblage theory and objectoriented ontology details how consumer experience and object experience emerge in the IoT. This conceptualization is anchored in the context of consumerobject assemblages, and defines consumer experience by its emergent properties, capacities, and agentic and communal roles expressed in interaction. Four specific consumer experience assemblages emerge: enabling experiences, comprising agentic self-extension and communal self-expansion, and constraining experiences, comprising agentic self-restriction and communal self-reduction. A parallel conceptualization of the construct of object experience argues that it can be accessed by consumers through object-oriented anthropomorphism, a nonhuman-centric approach to evaluating the expressive roles objects play in interaction. Directions for future research are derived, and consumer researchers are invited to join a dialogue about the important themes underlying our framework. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
Smart aging is an emerging research topic that has a profound impact on society and well-being of aging population. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no systematic analysis of grasping what research has been conducted on smart aging. Thus, there is no discussion of major issues and future directions of smart aging. In this paper, we provide an overview of smart aging in three ways: 1) to synthesize the components of smart aging based on the comprehensive literature review and 2) to examine the range of topics extracted from 3760 web pages and 3) to analyze the research activities on smart aging by conducting a content analysis of 4500 web pages of the NIH funded organizations' websites related to smart aging. The results of the comprehensive literature review indicate that the discussions on smart aging in the scientific publications are by and large classified into the following three directions: Technologies, Aging Medical Care, and Behavior and Social. In addition, the major topics from search engine datasets, which echoes more general discussions from various different parties, are related to entertainment program and social media, along with medical science and innovation technologies, whereas the research activities of NIH funded organizations focused on cross-disciplinary research in Behavioral and Social science, and Medical Care.
Voice User Interfaces (VUIs) are becoming ubiquitously available, being embedded both into everyday mobility via smartphones, and into the life of the home via ‘assistant’ devices. Yet, exactly how users of such devices practically thread that use into their everyday social interactions remains underexplored. By collecting and studying audio data from month-long deployments of the Amazon Echo in participants’ homes—informed by ethnomethodology and conversation analysis—our study documents the methodical practices of VUI users, and how that use is accomplished in the complex social life of the home. Data we present shows how the device is made accountable to and embedded into conversational settings like family dinners where various simultaneous activities are being achieved. We discuss how the VUI is finely coordinated with the sequential organisation of talk. Finally, we locate implications for the accountability of VUI interaction, request and response design, and raise conceptual challenges to the notion of designing ‘conversational’ interfaces.
Amazon's Echo and its conversational agent Alexa open exciting opportunities for understanding how people perceive and interact with virtual agents. Drawing from user reviews of the Echo posted to Amazon.com, this case study explores the degree to which user reviews indicate personification of the device, sociability level of interactions, factors linked with personification, and influences on user satisfaction. Results indicate marked variance in how people refer to the device, with over half using the personified name Alexa but most referencing the device with object pronouns. Degree of device personification is linked with sociability of interactions: greater personification co-occurs with more social interactions with the Echo. Reviewers mentioning multiple member households are more likely to personify the device than reviewers mentioning living alone. Even after controlling for technical issues, personification predicts user satisfaction with the Echo.
As life expectancy increases, so does the number of elders. This increase poses a challenge regarding the ability of maintaining the costs for providing services to this group. In search of solution, practitioners have found technology to improve the life style of the elderly and reducing the costs in long term. This demographic change leads to opportunities for disruptive innovation as well. Elders' acceptance of innovative technology in their everyday life is a success key factor for the governments, technology providers, healthcare providers, and other major players in elders' life. This study systematically reviews the existing literature and identifies the actors in elders' life. In addition, the study provides a comprehensive review of elder's innovative technology adoption, including the impacts and costs. The study also offers suggestions and guidelines for future research.
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to examine the relationship between two age cohorts within the baby boomer group, younger baby boomers (born between 1956‐1965) and older baby boomers (born between 1946‐1955), based on various behavioral variables. It is postulated that, even though this group is exceedingly large in number, there are more similarities than differences among its younger and older members.
Design/methodology/approach
The study sample was a convenience sample and consisted of 295 respondents who were in the 40‐58 age category. A questionnaire was administered with scales that were well established and that have been used in previous research.
Findings
With the exception of cognitive age, there were no significant differences between younger and older baby boomers regarding a large number of salient behavioral variables. This conclusion suggests that marketers use caution when applying the widely accepted age segmentation strategy of splitting baby boomers into younger and older boomers.
Originality/value
The results of this study caution the marketer in further dividing the baby boomers group based on cohort segmentation. The results of this study suggest that cohort segmentation is a viable beginning for dividing consumers into groups, but that other demographic and/or psychographic methods need to be considered in subsequent segmentation efforts for baby boomers.
Using grounded theory as an example, this paper examines three methodological questions that are generally applicable to all qualitative methods. How should the usual scientific canons be reinterpreted for qualitative research? How should researchers report the procedures and canons used in their research? What evaluative criteria should be used in judging the research products? We propose that the criteria should be adapted to fit the procedures of the method. We demonstrate how this can be done for grounded theory and suggest criteria for evaluating studies following this approach. We argue that other qualitative researchers might be similarly specific about their procedures and evaluative criteria.
Technology use among seniors
- M Anderson
- A Perrin
Stigma Threat in Design for Older Adults: Exploring Design Factors that Induce Stigma Perception
- C Li
- C.-F Lee
- S Xu