The Underlying Motivations for Mobile Device Use by Seniors

Abstract

To date, there has been limited research carried out to better understand seniors' needs and purchase motivations related to mobile devices. To that end, this research enabled an exploratory assessment of the intrinsic and extrinsic needs/motives to consider in future research and development of ubiquitous mobile devices and related applications, specifically for seniors. The 65+ population is expected to double by 2025 (WHO, 2013) from 390 million to 800 million. The results demonstrate specific needs/motives which should be considered during the development of new mobile attributes and apps for this segment. For both attributes of devices themselves and the applications found on them, three tiers of priority for development were determined.

The European Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2023: Official Conference Proceedings

“…A Study by Reid et al, (2017) shows several priorities underlying elderly people using mobile phones. The first priority is ease of use (easy to use, easy to understand, can be started quickly).…”