Andraž Petrovčič

Social uses of interpersonal communication technologies in a complex media environment

This article investigates the patterns of social use of interpersonal communication technologies that can be discerned in today’s complex media environment, in which people have many channels available for interpersonal communication. The article starts with a comprehensive review of the comparative uses and gratification research of interpersonal communication media. It argues that these studies are efficient in answering questions such as why one device is preferred over another, but the approach they take is less suitable for an analysis of the patterns of actual use of interpersonal communication devices. While they build on various typologies of motives for media use, based upon psychological theories of motivations and needs, this article proposes that a valid typology of actual social uses of interpersonal media should be based on a social action theory in order to find general patterns of social use of interpersonal communication devices. Hence, this article follows recent developments of the uses and gratification approach which suggest treating social use as a social action and finds a fruitful starting point in Habermas’s typology of social action. From this, a typology of social uses of communication devices is derived, allowing a general and comprehensive, yet condensed empirical insight into the social uses of contemporary interpersonal communication technologies within a nationwide sample. Using various statistical techniques, an assessment is made of how five communication channels (i.e. mobile phone, short text messages, telephone, face-to-face and the Internet) are employed for four social uses, i.e. informational-cooperative, strategic, relational and expressive.

Differences in intrapersonal and interactional empowerment between lurkers and posters in health-related online support communities

Abstract Participation in health-related online support communities plays an important role in the psychological empowerment of people who are faced with health problems. Research has suggested that important differences exist in terms of psychological empowerment depending on the form and intensity of participation in such domains by showing that users who contribute to health-related online support communities by posting messages (posters) generally experience greater benefits in terms of intrapersonal empowerment, compared to participants who only read messages (lurkers). However, as yet, very little is known about how the often-neglected interactional aspect of psychological empowerment is associated with participation in these online domains. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore how different forms and intensity of participation in health-related online support communities are associated with both dimensions of psychological empowerment. Drawing on a nonprobability sample of 616 participants in two health-related online support communities, the analysis of the data, obtained with an online questionnaire, revealed that posters scored significantly higher in degree of interactional empowerment than lurkers, whereas no difference was observed in terms of intrapersonal empowerment. In addition, high posting frequency was significantly associated with a high level of interactional empowerment but not intrapersonal empowerment. The study suggests that to better understand the empowering potential of participation for users of health-related online support communities, it is important to distinguish not only between various forms of participation but also between different aspects of psychological empowerment.

The effect of email invitation elements on response rate in a web survey within an online community

In the research of online communities and web survey methodology little is known about how elements in email invitations to list-based web surveys can be used to obtain higher response rates. In the present work, we investigated whether making authority, plea for help, and sense of community salient in email invitations determines the response of survey participants. Drawing from both survey methodology and recent research on online communities, this study also tested a hypothesis on the relationship between activity in an online community and survey response. Using a full-factorial experiment based on a simple random sample of 2500 members from the largest online health community in Slovenia, the results support only the hypothesis that plea for help is an effective response-inducing element in email invitations. Furthermore, the results support the hypotheses that online community activity, related to the frequency of visits and number of posts to an online community, are positively associated with response in list-based web survey. Since this study also shows that combining more than one element in email invitations does not necessary improve response rates, web survey research and practice may benefit from future research on this topic. We experiment with content of email invitations to web survey in online community.Authority, plea for help, and sense of community are tested as soliciting elements.Plea for help in an email invitation increases the response rate.Using more than one element does not necessary improve the response rate.Visits and posts to online community are positively related to the response rate.

Mobile phone communication in social support networks of older adults in Slovenia

Mobile phone communication in social support networks of older adults is examined.Mobile phones are important for mediating emotional support and social companionship.The composition of social support networks scarcely predicts mobile phone communication.Age and socioeconomic status are negative predictors only in emotional support networks.Living alone positively affects mobile phone contacts in social support networks. Mobile phones have gained an important role in the personal communication of older adults with the members of their social support networks. Research shows that older adults increasingly use the mobile phone for maintenance and development of social interactions with their family members, peers, and caregivers as providers of emotional support and social companionship. Therefore, this study explores how retired older adults in Slovenia use mobile phones as personal devices for supportive communication as well as how the characteristics of their social support networks are related to the frequency of mobile phone communication with their network members. Using ego-centered social support network data, collected on a nationwide representative sample of retired older adults in Slovenia, this study found that the composition of emotional support and of social companionship networks scarcely predicts the frequency of mobile phone communication of older adults with their network members. Conversely, according to the results, it seems that more frequent in-person and landline phone communication with network members are positively associated with mobile phone communication, suggesting that older adults extend their communication sphere with a mobile phone in their support networks. Finally, the results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics of older adults, such as age, social-economic status, and living alone, significantly determine the frequency of mobile communication with their network members, even though their magnitude varies depending on the type of social support network.

Individual and Collective Empowerment in Online Communities: The Mediating Role of Communicative Interaction in Web Forums

The role of online communities in empowerment has received only limited attention in theory-based empirical research, with the focus predominantly on individual empowerment of people in online support groups. This article proposes that to analyze the empowering opportunities of online communities, both individual and collective dimensions of empowerment need to be taken into account, considering the suggestion that the relationship between the two can be an opposing one. The empowerment theory developed in community psychology allows the analysis of empowerment outcomes in the realm of online communities on the psychological level; however, to understand the conditions of congruency between individual and collective empowerment, we introduce the mechanism of communicative interaction. Hypotheses deduced from empowerment theory are contested with the hypotheses of our complementary approach and tested on a convenience sample of online community members. Results indicate that the psychosocial understanding of empowerment processes in the field of community psychology might get new insights by considering a communication perspective for such processes.

The role of social support networks in proxy Internet use from the intergenerational solidarity perspective

Abstract Digital inequalities research has documented a set of practices related to people’s Internet use that questions the binary division between Internet users and non-users. In particular, among older adults, a considerably large group of individuals has been identified as not using the Internet by themselves; rather, they ask members of their personal networks to do things online for them—they “use” the Internet by proxy. Since previous research shows that children and grandchildren are important sources of help when it comes to Internet use, the current paper indicates that the notion of intergenerational solidarity is a sound conceptual basis for understanding the relationship between social support networks and proxy Internet use among Internet non-users. Notably, the concept of functional solidarity as a dimension of intergenerational solidarity is advanced, as this relates to the frequency of the intergenerational exchange of resources and services encompassing various types of assistance and support offered between two generations. Empirically, this paper investigates how the two types of social support networks and their characteristics are associated with proxy Internet use. The results from multivariate analyses of survey data from a nation-wide representative sample show that when comparing emotional support and socializing networks, only the latter is associated with proxy Internet use: Internet non-users who have (grand-)children in their socializing support network are more likely to engage in proxy Internet use. The results also indicate that non-users who are younger, more educated, have children, and live in urban areas are more inclined to engage in proxy Internet use, regardless of the type of social support. The findings indicate the importance of empirical investigation related to different aspects of functional solidarity, as the effects on proxy Internet use depend on the type of social support.

Elements of the management of norms and their effects on the sense of virtual community

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how decisions of managers and administrators of online communities on norms and rules affect the sense of virtual community (SOVC), which is an important factor of the quality of online information. Design/methodology/approach – The study followed a two-level research design based on 970 online community members, nested within 36 online communities. Data collection consisted of two stages: first a web survey of a sample of online community members was conducted, followed by a web survey of administrators of the same online communities. A two-level hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The empirical results suggest that prominence of rules under the condition of members’ participation in their creation, presence of reputation mechanisms, and content moderation contribute significantly to the SOVC , while presence of lighter sanctions and interactive moderation do not. Research limitations/implications – Since this ...

Design of Mobile Phones for Older Adults: An Empirical Analysis of Design Guidelines and Checklists for Feature Phones and Smartphones

ABSTRACT Design guidelines and checklists are suggested as a useful tool in the development and evaluation of interface design of mobile phones for older adults. Given the intense evolution of mobile phone design, understanding how the design guidelines and checklists have taken into account the advances in mobile phone usability for older adults is important for their correct application and future development. Thus, this study explores the usability dimensions of mobile phone design for older adults and the related changes in terms of time and the type of device (feature phones vs. smartphones) based on an expert coding of the eight mobile phone design guidelines and checklists for older adults published between 2006 and 2014. The results of the expert coding show that design guidelines and checklists most frequently deal with visual and haptic issues (e.g., high contrast, button type, and button size), whilst they hardly ever address various elements of textual interface (e.g., ease of text entry, a button’s feedback, and font type). Over time, the design guidelines and checklists have become more complex in terms of the average number of included usability categories and dimensions. For smartphones, the guidelines, on average, put more emphasis on the screen, touchscreen, text, and exterior related issues, whereas the design guidelines for feature phones stress the usability of the keypad and menus. Besides revealing potential usability dimensions that could be further expanded in the guidelines, this study also highlights the need for research that would empirically validate the design guidelines and checklists in the future.

The Ten Shades of Silver: Segmentation of Older Adults in the Mobile Phone Market

ABSTRACT With the closing of the age-related gap in mobile phone uptake and the aging of the population, older adults have increasingly become a desirable target group for mobile phone providers. Although there is abundant literature describing the use of mobile phones among older adults, segmentation studies on this group of consumers remain scant and inconclusive. Drawing on the benefit and behavioral segmentation, this study presents a segmentation model of older adults in the mobile phone market that incorporates a wide variety of consumer behavior, attitudinal, and acceptance variables relevant for the understanding of mobile phone (non-)usage patterns among users of feature phones and smartphones, as well as among mobile phone nonusers. The model is based on a hybrid approach with a two-step cluster analysis using data collected by a telephone survey from a representative sample (n = 1,581) of adults aged 55 or older in Slovenia in 2015. The analysis yielded two uniquely profiled clusters within each of the five a priori-determined segments, summing to a total of 10 clusters. The results show that older adults still prefer feature phones. Nevertheless, the mobile phone market has become highly heterogeneous, with clusters of older adults having distinguishable feature phone- and smartphone-use patterns as well as socio-demographic and life-course profiles. Since many of these profiles undermine the notion of older adults as “basic” mobile phone users, our findings represent a solid foundation for scholars and marketers to further investigate their specific needs in relation to more advanced smartphone and mobile internet usage.

Understanding Acceptance Factors for Using e-care Systems and Devices: Insights from a Mixed-Method Intervention Study in Slovenia

An increasing number of scholars have been recently exploring the role of factors that foster the adoption of different types of assistive technologies among older adults. Our study contributes to this field with a mixed-methods intervention study that combines a baseline and follow-up telephone survey with semi-structured interviews to evaluate the user experience and potentially identifies additional acceptance factors of e-care systems and relations among them. Different assistive technologies were tested and evaluated by three groups of participants: (1) older adults testing mobile and wearable devices and (2) informal carers who remotely monitored events recorded by e-care systems installed in the homes of (3) care receivers. The findings indicate heterogeneous needs and expectations these three groups have towards the use of e-care systems. Moreover, the results also unveil the fear of not getting help quickly in case of an emergency, and perception of safety and peace of mind as important predictors of the use of e-care systems among informal carers and care receivers. Indirectly, the results also reveal the importance of intervention and mixed methods design studies as a means of a more comprehensive understanding of acceptance factors of assistive technologies.