Revisiting the relationship between information and communication technologies and travel behavior: An investigation of older Americans

Abstract

In the digital era, information and communication technologies (ICTs) have provided inexpensive ways for older people to access daily activities; however, the relationship between ICTs and travel among older people has been insufficiently studied. Drawing on an online survey of 2,510 older Americans, this study used a series of structural equation models to examine the relationship between ICTs and travel among older people. The results show that ICT usage and daily travel for shopping, social and recreational, and healthcare purposes among older Americans are positively related. Of all the predictors, the difficulty of using the Internet is one of the most critical for lower ICT usage for all purposes, all else being equal. The study also provides user profiles for different ICT applications. For example, older people who were still relatively young used social media more. E-health applications were more widely used by people of color. The study also demonstrates racial disparities in e-shopping: African Americans tended to use e-shopping applications less frequently, and also generated fewer in-store shopping trips compared to non-Hispanic Whites. The study implies that there is significant potential in using ICTs to reduce travel difficulties for disadvantaged older people, and it is important to improve older people’s technology literacy.