JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) increasingly mediate daily activities, yet older adults often show low activity and limited diversity in technology engagement. Technophobia is a salient psychological barrier, but existing research largely treats it as unidimensional, limiting fine-grained insight into how specific fears—potentially shaped by day-to-day technical support in naturalistic settings—translate into different forms of technology use.

Objective:

This study aimed to test how daily technical support promotes older adults’ instrumental and hedonic technology use by reducing multidimensional technophobia (fear of inconvenience, fear of personal failure, and human–machine ambiguity), and whether these mechanisms differ by gender.

Methods:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among Chinese adults aged ≥55 years recruited via online platforms and offline communities in Nanjing (June–October 2024). A total of 212 valid responses were included (Mage=66.96, SD=6.96; range 55–86; 68.4% women). Measures assessed day-to-day technical support, three dimensions of technophobia, instrumental versus hedonic technology use, and demographic variables. We used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples to test direct, and moderated mediation effects, reporting 95% bias-corrected and accelerated confidence intervals.

Results:

Daily technical support significantly reduced fear of inconvenience (β=−0.455, P<.001; 95% BCa CI −0.632 to −0.229) but did not significantly affect fear of personal failure (P=.116) or human–machine ambiguity (P=.258). Fear of inconvenience and human–machine ambiguity negatively predicted instrumental use (β=−0.215, P=.045; 95% BCa CI −0.410 to −0.009; β=−0.211, P=.036; 95% BCa CI −0.389 to −0.001). Daily technical support had a positive direct effect on instrumental use (β=0.104, P=.039; 95% BCa CI 0.009 to 0.203) but not on hedonic use (β=0.075, P=.114). The indirect effect of daily technical support on instrumental use through fear of inconvenience was significant (β=0.098; 95% BCa CI 0.001 to 0.219). Gender moderated the effect of daily technical support on fear of inconvenience (β=0.287, P=.016; 95% BCa CI 0.052 to 0.518), and such conditional indirect effect was significant for men (β=0.098; 95% BCa CI 0.001 to 0.219) but not for women (β=0.036; 95% BCa CI −0.002 to 0.116).

Conclusions:

Everyday technical support primarily promotes older adults’ instrumental (not hedonic) technology use by reducing the inconvenience dimension of technophobia, with a stronger pathway among older men. Interventions to narrow the later-life digital divide may benefit from emphasizing just-in-time support that lowers perceived effort–benefit burdens, alongside strategies addressing broader human–machine concerns that also suppress instrumental engagement.