Aging Adults' Motivation to Use Embodied Conversational Agents in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living: Results of Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

The rapidly increasing share of ageing adults in the population drives the need and interest in assistive technology, as it has the potential to support ageing individuals in living independently and safely. However, technological development rarely reflects how needs, preferences, and interests develop in different ways while ageing. It often follows the strategy of "what is possible" rather than "what is needed" and "what preferred". As part of personalized assistive technology, embodied conversational agents (ECAs) can offer mechanisms to adapt the technological advances with the stakeholders' expectations. The present study explored the motivation among ageing adults regarding technology use in multiple domains of activities of daily living. Participants responded to the questionnaire on the perceived importance of instrumental activities of daily living and acceptance of the idea of using ECAs to support them. Latent profile analysis revealed four profiles regarding the motivation to use ECAs (i.e., a low motivation profile, two selective motivation profiles with an emphasis on physical and psychological well-being, and a high motivation profile). Profiles were compared in terms of their acceptance of ECA usage in various life domains. The results increase the knowledge needed in the development of assistive technology adapted to the expectations of ageing adults.

Keywords: ageing adults; embodied conversational agents; instrumental activities of daily living; latent profile analysis; personalized assistive technology.

Figure 1

Characteristics of extracted profiles. The figure contains absolute values for gender and standardized (Z) values for other variables.