Factors Influencing Online Shopping Behavior Among Older Adults from the Perspective of Social Support:A Qualitative Analysis Based on Grounded Theory
Analyzing the factors influencing online shopping among older adults and their pathways from a social support perspective can provide references for different social entities to optimize their support strategies and enhance digital literacy of older adults through the high-frequency scenario of online shopping.Through one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 30 elderly individuals,combined with the three-level coding process of grounded theory,this study extracts 17 subcategories and 7 main categories.The theoretical framework for factors influencing online shopping behavior among older adults involves three dimensions:personal needs,personal barriers,and social support.The results indicate that there are autonomous and controlled needs in online shopping among older adults,but usage barriers and psychological barriers can inhibit their willingness to shop online.Different sources of social support(formal,quasi-formal,and informal support)can effectively enhance their autonomous online shopping motivation and remove online shopping barriers.Based on this,optimization strategies are proposed,including strengthening formal support by optimizing the online shopping environment for older adults from both regulatory and guidance perspectives,valuing quasi-formal support by leveraging community and corporate social responsibility to optimize older adults'online shopping capabilities,and encouraging informal support by enhancing the initiative of digital reciprocity and boosting the confidence of older adults in online shopping.
Older AdultOnline ShoppingSocial SupportInfluencing FactorDigital LiteracyGrounded Theory