A Study On Influencing Factors Of WeChat Use Behavior Of Rural Middle-aged And Elderly Groups

In China and the world at large,the contradiction between the increasingly "old" demographic structure and the increasingly "new" digital technology has become an inescapable problem in the digital society.The penetration of new media technologies into China’s major cities,as well as into villages,has had an impact on the lives of rural middle-aged and elderly groups.As a marginal group in the digital society,rural middle-aged and elderly people are not the main force of social media,but it is undeniable that the proportion of this group using social media is increasing,and they are also actively integrating into the digital society.WeChat,as the most active social software,has become one of the most common social media used by rural middle-aged and elderly people.Based on this,this study investigates the factors that influence the use of WeChat among rural middle-aged and elderly people in Tanfang Township,Shandong Province,by combining questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews.This study establishes a research model of the factors influencing WeChat usage behavior of rural middle-aged and elderly people based on the integrated technology acceptance and innovation model,and the data results are analyzed empirically through spss.The results showed that rural middle-aged and older adults with positive attitudes toward aging,high self-efficacy,high performance expectations,strong perceived entertainment,strong community influence,convenience conditions and more digital feedbacks were more willing to use WeChat,those with declining physical function and strong perceived risk were relatively less willing to use WeChat,and payoff expectations had no significant effect on rural middle-aged and older adults’ willingness to use WeChat.In contrast,having convenience and strong willingness to use positively influenced rural middle-aged and older adults’ WeChat use behavior.Based on the analysis results,the factors that hinder this group’s use of WeChat are summarized,and countermeasure suggestions to improve their usage behavior are proposed,mainly developing rural senior education to improve media literacy of rural middle-aged and elderly people;carrying out age-appropriate design of software to improve the experience of using software;and finally,advocating digital feedbacks to enhance intergenerational information dissemination.