Mind the Age Gap! How Problematic Internet Use Affects Adults’ and Emerging Adults’ Well-Being and Prosocial Consumer Behavior

Abstract

While much has been reported about the negative consequences of the pervasive presence of information and communications technologies in consumers’ everyday lives, the present research enriches the literature on problematic internet use by applying the cognitive-behavioral model in a consumer context, creating a bridge between marketing and psychology research, with novel insights and directions for future research. By means of a moderated mediation model tested on hundreds of consumers, the authors explore whether problematic internet use influences well-being through the mediation of prosocial consumer behavior and the moderation of online-social support. The results show that problematic internet use can indirectly affect individual well-being by affecting consumer choice. Managerial and theoretical implications are addressed.

Digital Competence in University Students: A Comparison between Spain and Italy

“…However, a more in-depth analysis shows that there are small differences in some items between countries by age, with Italian students over 27 years old being more proficient in the use of web browsers and search engines than their Spanish counterparts. This finding is in line with previous research, where age was considered a determining factor (Raggiotto et al, 2023). The place of Internet connection is also relevant, with Spaniards connecting from university showing a higher use of podcasting and videocasting platforms, while Italians connecting from mobile phones make better use of image editing tools and social software.…”

Cross-Cultural Examination of Problematic Internet Use and Associated Psychological Variables: A Comparative Study in Italy, Spain, Ecuador, and Peru

“…Indeed, in this context, typical prosocial behaviors can be enacted on social networks, e.g., by creating “groups” to give and receive support from informal networks of peers as well as from strangers [ 32 ]—or on gaming platforms, where people can help each other during gaming activities [ 33 ]. Some studies [ 34 ] also show a negative correlation between prosocial behaviors and excessive Internet use.…”

Information Technologies and Consumers’ Well-Being: Latest Research and Future Research Directions

“…The other articles in the special issue view consumers’ well-being as an outcome variable. In this vein, Raggiotto et al (2023) enrich the literature on problematic internet use, applying the cognitive behavioral model from psychology in the novel consumer context of e-sports. The other articles demonstrate how well-being can be impacted by different types of new technologies, such as smart wearable technologies (Tikkanen, Heinonen, and Ravald 2023), sleep apps (Attie and Meyer-Waarden 2023), AI-produced health care recommendations (Gaczek et al 2023), mobile payment (Yu, Peng, and Wang 2023), contactless technology (Feng and Meng 2023), social networking services (Wilson-Nash, Pavlopoulou, and Wang 2023), parental control software (Egaaied-Gambier, Bertrandias, and Bernard 2023), and video games (Raggiotto and Scarpi 2023).…”

“…Consumers’ individual differences can play an important role in the relationship between information technologies and consumers’ well-being. Examples of consumers’ individual differences examined in this special issue include consumer's privacy concerns (Attie and Meyer-Waarden 2023; Raggiotto and Scarpi 2023), sanguine versus melancholic personality traits (Attie and Meyer-Waarden 2023), consumers’ anxiety (Gaczek et al 2023), parents’ role overload (Egaaied-Gambier, Bertrandias, and Bernard 2023), consumers’ perceived control over the digital environment (Raggiotto and Scarpi 2023), and consumers’ maturity in terms of age (Raggiotto et al 2023). To extend the set of individual differences, future research could examine additional personality traits (e.g., the “Big Five,” such as introversion/extraversion), privacy-related constructs, attitude, and technology-related variables (e.g., technology anxiety, technology literacy).…”

“…The special issue articles investigate the relationship between information technologies and well-being in relation to specific groups of consumers defined based on their age, such as Generation Z and emerging adults (Attie and Meyer-Waarden 2023; Raggiotto et al 2023; Tuan, Visentin, and Di Domenico 2023) and older consumers (Wilson-Nash, Pavlopoulou, and Wang 2023), and their role in an interpersonal/social context, such as that of parents (Egaaied-Gambier, Bertrandias, and Bernard 2023) and patients (Gaczek et al 2023). Future research should include additional groups of consumers, including very young ones (e.g., Generation Alpha) for which new technologies play a key role in their development, and should continue to investigate more vulnerable and disadvantaged groups (e.g., the elderly).…”