Younger vs. Older Adults' Satisfaction With Health Websites: Results From a Mode Tailoring Experiment

• In Event: Mobile and Online Health Interventions

Abstract

Older adults increasingly use online health information, but many websites are not senior-friendly, which might lead to user-problems and dissatisfaction. Therefore, health websites should take into account age-related limitations, such as by providing the opportunity to adjust the modality (i.e. ‘mode’) of information presentation based on visual and auditory capabilities of older adults. This study aims to investigate whether a mode-tailored website, allowing users to self-tailor the mode of information presentation, positively influences younger and older adults’ satisfaction with health websites. A 5 (condition: tailored vs. text, text with illustrations, text with video, combination) × 2 (age: younger [25–45] vs. older [≥65] adults) experimental study (N = 563) showed that mode tailoring positively influenced satisfaction with the attractiveness and comprehensibility of the website, relative to non-tailored conditions. Younger and older adults did not differ in website satisfaction. The current study provides important suggestions for website and eHealth intervention designers.

Author

• Minh Hao Nguyen, ASCoR, U of Amsterdam