Understanding Older Adults’ Acceptance of Smart Clothing : Moderated Moderation Effects of Psychological Influence and Recommender Age

As Korea enters a super-aged society, understanding the mechanisms that influence older adults’ acceptance of smart clothing has become increasingly important. This study integrates the Extended Technology Acceptance Model, the Senior Technology Acceptance Model, and Functional Attitude Theory to investigate these mechanisms. An online experiment was conducted with older adults (N=241, aged 60+), exposing participants to smart-clothing advertisements delivered by either a younger or older recommender. Structural equation modeling revealed that perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness were the primary determinants of usage intention. In contrast, perceived ease of learning and use did not directly affect intention but influenced it indirectly through enjoyment and usefulness. Moderated moderation analyses further demonstrated that the recommender’s age and participants’ psychological influence jointly shaped their cognitive evaluation of the technology. Specifically, participants with high psychological influence perceived greater usefulness when the product was introduced by a younger recommender, whereas participants with low psychological influence responded more favorably to an older recommender. These findings indicate that, even for function-oriented smart clothing, emotional experience and psychological fit are critical determinants of technology acceptance. This study underscores the importance of emotionally adaptive product design and tailored communication strategies that align recommender characteristics with users’ psychological profiles to promote smart-clothing adoption among older adults.