Being like others vs. being different: Wearable technology and daily practices of 50+ consumers in Russia and Finland

Abstract

This is a qualitative study of consumers aged 50+ and their daily practices connected to wearable devices (smartwatches and fitness trackers). Drawing on the practice theory, we seek to uncover how participation in such practices might enhance users’ well‐being as an integral part of social sustainability. We assume that both ageing and well‐being are not pre‐given but they rather co‐evolve when users of wearables engage in situated practices. Hence, wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers might positively reconfigure the existing practices of consumers over 50, or even recruit them into new ones, resulting in higher well‐being and social sustainability. The phenomenon is examined in Russia and Finland, as ageing has been high on the agenda in these countries due to controversial pension and social welfare reforms. Though these countries are different in terms of possibilities (access to medical help, employment, social participation and so forth) for their ageing populations, an active ageing framework with an emphasis on individual responsibility over one’s well‐being has been gaining popularity in both Russia and Finland. This framework is compatible with the use of wearable devices that measure physical activity and basic health characteristics. Based on data elicited through 17 semi‐structured interviews with Russians and Finns aged between 50 and 73 y.o., this study suggests that engagement in practices with wearables might have a positive effect on consumers’ well‐being. This is achieved, for instance, by helping manage one’s daily tasks, reducing stigma that is sometimes attached to ageing individuals and/or boosting feeling of togetherness in social interactions that might decrease with ageing. In addition, an important difference between the two countries lies in how ageing consumers see themselves in relation to other ageing people when using a wearable: in Russia, the use of a wearable can signal one’s social distance from an “average” ageing person, while Finnish consumers regard themselves as doing what everyone of the same age does.

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