The Impact of Heterogeneity in Consumers’ Socio-Demographic Characteristics on the Acceptance of Ambient Assisted Living Technology for Older Adults Monitoring in the Home Context

Abstract

With the accelerating pace of global aging, ambient assisted living (AAL) technology is expected to ease the conflict between medical supply and demand resources in long-term home care. The key to the general adoption of AAL technology is to capture the differentiated product demand of a consumer class that is heterogeneous in socio-demographics and preferences. In this study, we proposed a tailored technology acceptance model to examine the factors affecting AAL technology acceptance from multi-consumer perspectives based on a sample of 451 respondents obtaining the differences in influence paths of AAL technology acceptance for different consumer groups. Almost all subgroups regarded perceived usefulness as having a decisive role. Family caregivers, women, and single-generational households were more concerned about perceived ease of use than matched groups, and higher educated groups and multi-generational households took price value as the priority objective. This research provides guidelines for promoting AAL technology in management practices.

Keywords:

• Technology adoption and diffusion
• ambient assisted living (AAL) technology
• socio-demographic characteristic
• technicality
• price value

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China [Grant numbers. No. 2020YFC2006000]; the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars of China [Grant numbers. No. 72122007]; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [Grant numbers. No. 72071089].

Notes on contributors

Ying Zhou

Ying Zhou is a professor at Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology. Her research interests include intelligent construction, smart home, and healthy environment. She has published more than 30 papers in high-level journals, including Lancet public health, Environmental Pollution, Sustainable Cities and Society, etc.

Ting Pan

Ting Pan is a Master’s student at Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology. She is focused on the intelligent environment which improves occupant health outcomes.

Lingling Wang

Lingling Wang is a PhD student at Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology. Her research interests are the impact of the built environment on people. Her work has appeared in the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering, Sustainable Cities and Society.

Rao Li

Rao Li is a Master’s student at Huazhong Univ. of Science and Technology. His research focuses on intelligent technologies supporting the independence of older persons.