A Push and a Pull: Dual Pathways of Family Influence on Older Adults’ Smart Home Adoption

While technology adoption among older adults is essential for digital inclusion, the influence of family context, particularly how family communication processes might shape technological confidence and fears, is often overlooked. This study examines how two family communication patterns—conversation and conformity orientation—affect smart home adoption intention via distinct psychological pathways. In a 2 (conversation: high vs. low) × 2 (conformity: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment with 212 older Chinese adults (mean age = 59.7 years), participants engaged with a scenario of intergenerational technology dialogue. Results showed conversation orientation's effect was fully indirect, via cognitive empowerment: it boosted self-efficacy, enhancing perceived ease of use (PEOU) and intention. Conformity orientation offered normative support, with a direct effect on intention and an indirect path reducing technophobia, then improving PEOU. These findings propose a dual-pathway model of social influence in technology adoption, advocating for family-centered perspectives in user-centered design to promote digital inclusion.