Driving older adults’ online engagement through an integrated service experience: a mixed-methods study in an online–merge-offline educational context

TL;DR

This study explores how integrated service experiences and digital literacy influence older adults' online engagement in blended educational platforms.

Contribution

The study introduces a theoretical framework linking integrated service experience and digital literacy to online engagement in OMO educational contexts.

Findings

Integrated service experience significantly increases older adults' online engagement.

Digital literacy directly enhances engagement and strengthens perceived value's impact on engagement.

Abstract

This study examines how integrated service experience shapes older adults’ online engagement in online-merge-offline (OMO) platforms and investigates the role of digital literacy in this process.

Using a mixed-methods design, we built a theoretical framework through grounded theory based on interviews and secondary data. We then applied Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the framework using survey data.

Integrated service experience, which consists of offline service experience and online–offline integration, significantly increases older adults’ engagement. Offline service experience improves satisfaction with offline services, and both this satisfaction and online–offline integration heighten perceived value of online services. Higher perceived value, in turn, promotes online engagement. Digital literacy directly increases engagement and strengthens the effect of perceived value on online engagement.

These findings clarify the mechanisms of older adults’ online engagement in OMO educational platforms and extend lifelong learning and geragogy theories into digitally blended environments. They also offer practical guidance for designing age-friendly and motivation-sensitive OMO strategies that support inclusive and sustained later-life learning.

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