IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/teinso/v66y2021ics0160791x21000841.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digital inequality in online reciprocity between generations: A preliminary exploration of ability to use communication technology as a mediator

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, Chelsea
  • Feng, Bo

Abstract

The current study provides preliminary insights into the disparity between older and younger adults in reciprocity in online social interaction. It also offers a synthesized conceptualization of different levels of online reciprocity that have been varyingly adopted in past research (e.g., presence of communicative response, matching of message length and quality). ANOVA and regression analyses of survey and behavioral data from 502 participants (304 college students and 198 older adults) revealed that, compared to the college student sample, the older adult sample self-reported their online reciprocity as lower and was less likely to reciprocate a stimulus email. Ability to use communication technology predicted all types and measures of online reciprocity and mediated the relationship between age group and online reciprocity. Implications of the findings are discussed in connection to the phenomenon of digital inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, Chelsea & Feng, Bo, 2021. "Digital inequality in online reciprocity between generations: A preliminary exploration of ability to use communication technology as a mediator," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s0160791x21000841
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101609
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160791X21000841
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101609?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia A. Thomas, 2010. "Is It Better to Give or to Receive? Social Support and the Well-being of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 65(3), pages 351-357.
    2. Rajagopal, 2014. "The Human Factors," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Architecting Enterprise, chapter 9, pages 225-249, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Temple Jones, Chelsea & Rice, Carla & Lam, Margaret & Chandler, Eliza & Jiwon Lee, Karen, 2021. "Toward TechnoAccess: A narrative review of disabled and aging experiences of using technology to access the arts," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Tirado-Morueta, Ramón & Aguaded-Gómez, José Ignacio & Hernando-Gómez, Ángel, 2018. "The socio-demographic divide in Internet usage moderated by digital literacy support," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 47-55.
    5. Pirhonen, Jari & Lolich, Luciana & Tuominen, Katariina & Jolanki, Outi & Timonen, Virpi, 2020. "“These devices have not been made for older people's needs” – Older adults' perceptions of digital technologies in Finland and Ireland," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    6. Tingley, Dustin & Yamamoto, Teppei & Hirose, Kentaro & Keele, Luke & Imai, Kosuke, 2014. "mediation: R Package for Causal Mediation Analysis," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 59(i05).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alam, Gazi Mahabubul, 2021. "Does online technology provide sustainable HE or aggravate diploma disease? Evidence from Bangladesh—a comparison of conditions before and during COVID-19," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    2. Kim, Miyea & Oh, Joohyun & Kim, Beomsoo, 2021. "Experience of digital music services and digital self-efficacy among older adults: Enjoyment and anxiety as mediators," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Iong, Kit Yeng & Phillips, Jenny O.L., 2022. "Examining the impact of behavioral factors on the intention of adopting E-government services: An empirical study on the hard-to-reach groups in Macao SAR, China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Nilmini M. Rathnayake & Pivithuru J. Kumarasinghe & Ajantha S. Kumara, 2022. "How Do Different Types of University Academics Perceive Work from Home Amidst COVID-19 and Beyond?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Miyea & Oh, Joohyun & Kim, Beomsoo, 2021. "Experience of digital music services and digital self-efficacy among older adults: Enjoyment and anxiety as mediators," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Jip Leendertse & Frank J. van Rijnsoever & Chris P. Eveleens, 2021. "The sustainable start‐up paradox: Predicting the business and climate performance of start‐ups," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1019-1036, February.
    3. Rahman, Shaikh Moksadur, 2020. "Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention: Evidence from Bangladesh," Asian Business Review, Asian Business Consortium, vol. 10(2), pages 99-108.
    4. Wang Kai, 2019. "Towards a Taxonomy of Idea Generation Techniques," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 65-80, January.
    5. Bridgelall, Raj & Stubbing, Edward, 2021. "Forecasting the effects of autonomous vehicles on land use," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    6. Bevilacqua, Maurizio & Ciarapica, Filippo Emanuele, 2018. "Human factor risk management in the process industry: A case study," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 149-159.
    7. Naveena Prakasam & Louisa Huxtable-Thomas, 2021. "Reddit: Affordances as an Enabler for Shifting Loyalties," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 723-751, June.
    8. Colin Jerolmack & Alexandra K. Murphy, 2019. "The Ethical Dilemmas and Social Scientific Trade-offs of Masking in Ethnography," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 48(4), pages 801-827, November.
    9. Valeriy Makarov & Albert Bakhtizin, 2014. "The Estimation Of The Regions’ Efficiency Of The Russian Federation Including The Intellectual Capital, The Characteristics Of Readiness For Innovation, Level Of Well-Being, And Quality Of Life," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(4), pages 9-30.
    10. Zhao, Jing & Knoop, Victor L. & Wang, Meng, 2020. "Two-dimensional vehicular movement modelling at intersections based on optimal control," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-22.
    11. Kristine Edgar Danielyan & Samvel Grigoriy Chailyan, 2019. "Delineation of Effectors Impact on The Human Brain Derived Phosphoribosylpyrophosphate Synthetase-1 Activity," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 24(1), pages 17918-17926, December.
    12. Chuan Wang & Yupeng Liu & Wen Hou & Chao Yu & Guorong Wang & Yuyan Zheng, 2021. "Reliability and availability modeling of Subsea Autonomous High Integrity Pressure Protection System with partial stroke test by Dynamic Bayesian," Journal of Risk and Reliability, , vol. 235(2), pages 268-281, April.
    13. Mohammad AL-Zoubi, 2018. "The Role of Technology, Organization, and Environment Factors in Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation Success in Jordan," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(8), pages 48-65, August.
    14. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    15. Nicole D. Sintov & P. Wesley Schultz, 2017. "Adjustable Green Defaults Can Help Make Smart Homes More Sustainable," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-12, April.
    16. Hwang, ShinYoung & Kim Seongcheol, 2017. "What triggers the use of mIM service provider’s sequel O2O service extensions?," 14th ITS Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, Kyoto 2017: Mapping ICT into Transformation for the Next Information Society 168494, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    17. Sana Sadiq & Khadija Anasse & Najib Slimani, 2022. "The impact of mobile phones on high school students: connecting the research dots," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 30(1), pages 252-270, April.
    18. Maude Hasbi & Antoine Dubus, 2019. "Determinants of Mobile Broadband Use in Developing Economies: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers hal-02264651, HAL.
    19. Jascha-Alexander Koch & Michael Siering, 2019. "The recipe of successful crowdfunding campaigns," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 29(4), pages 661-679, December.
    20. Martins, José & Costa, Catarina & Oliveira, Tiago & Gonçalves, Ramiro & Branco, Frederico, 2019. "How smartphone advertising influences consumers' purchase intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 378-387.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:teinso:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s0160791x21000841. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/technology-in-society .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.