AGE AND USAGE OF TECHNOLOGY. A STRCUTURAL EQUATION MODEL BASED ON THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR
AGE AND USAGE OF TECHNOLOGY. A STRCUTURAL EQUATION MODEL BASED ON THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR

Summary/Abstract: Despite of its great disruption, users’ access to technology is limited and influenced by individual attitudes and capabilities. We take a look at how social media usage, as a form of online social capital, varies based on the theory of planned behavior. Analyzing 2018 data from the United States of America, gathered within the Core Trends Survey – Pew Research Center, we develop a structural equation model comparison between younger and older respondents. Our results show that a more positive attitude towards the Internet increases the difficulty to give up digital devices, which also determines a higher level of social media usage for both younger and older individuals. However, older people tend to have a less positive attitude towards the Internet compared with their younger counterparts, which relates to their lower engagement in social media usage. We also identify intersections between age and variables such as education, income, and gender accounting for individuals’ digital behavior. Provided that online social capital may have an important role for well-being and medical prevention, our research highlights the need to further investigate this current digital divide.

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