ALOK KUMAR YADAV,MARIYAM AHMED,BHUMIKA BANSAL
DOI: https://doi.org/The societal functions of digital platforms are rapidly expanding to include online banking, telehealth services, and social communication. These digital platforms, however, are often met with skepticism or outright avoidance by older users due to trust, privacy, and safety concerns. This study aims to examine the psychological and technological domains of trust, and safety concerns within the digital space for users aged 60 and older. As part of a mixed-methods study, we collected quantitative survey data from 412 participants living in urban and semi-urban areas and coupled it with qualitative interviews to determine the salient trust factors. Our findings indicate that platform explainability, data control, past experiences online, fear of scams, abusive ease of access, poor digital literacy, and a myriad of online safety nets all impact trust. The study formulates a trust perception model based on the attitudinal and psychological makeup of older adults. The derived findings assist in the formulation of trustable and easy to navigate digital ecosystems which are age-appropriate and safe for older users. This study highlights the importance of digital literacy initiatives, ease of use design, protective user interfaces, and custodial data governance designed to enhance trust and functionality for older users.
