Older adults’ intention to use extended reality in China’s Yellow River Basin: an extended Technology Acceptance Model with intergenerational support

As older adults become an important segment of China’s tourism market and family-based multigenerational travel becomes more prevalent, extended reality (XR)-enabled cultural heritage tourism raises a broader question about older adults’ access to technology-mediated cultural participation. Although XR may enrich cultural heritage tourism, older adults’ engagement with XR may be shaped by digital barriers and varying levels of family-based support. However, limited research has examined older adults’ intention to use XR in tourism through an integrated framework that considers intergenerational support and XR characteristics.

Addressing this gap, this study develops an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to examine older adults’ behavioral intention to use XR in the cultural heritage tourism context of China’s Yellow River Basin. A scenario-based survey was conducted in this pre-adoption context. Using a standardized written-and-video scenario depicting XR applications in cultural heritage tourism, data were collected from 413 Chinese adults aged 60 and above and analyzed using SPSS 25 and partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4, with a supplementary confirmatory factor analysis conducted in AMOS 23.

The results show that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and anticipated satisfaction are directly associated with behavioral intention, with anticipated satisfaction showing the strongest direct association. Intergenerational support and XR characteristics are indirectly associated with behavioral intention through distinct cognitive and evaluative pathways. By clarifying these pathways, this study extends TAM and contributes to discussions of ageing, family-mediated digital inclusion, and potential inequalities in access to technology-mediated cultural heritage experiences.

This study was supported by the Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Youth Project “Digital Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage Spaces in Traditional Villages: A Case Study of the Yellow River Basin’s Shandong Segment” (No. 23YJCZH141). This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Youth Project (Grant No. 23YJCZH141, awarded to Wei Liu). Jing Wu, Wei Liu, Yinhong Hua & Bing Liang The authors declare no competing interests.

The study was approved by the Biomedical Ethics Committee of Qufu Normal University (Approval No. 2025103; approved on 23 June 2025) before data collection. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations. Written informed consent was obtained electronically from all participants via Wenjuanxing before they accessed the questionnaire.

Participants were presented with an online information and consent page describing the study purpose, voluntary nature of participation, confidentiality provisions, and participant rights. They could proceed to the questionnaire only after selecting “Agree and continue”; otherwise, they could withdraw by selecting the exit option. Consent was obtained from Chinese older adults aged 60 years and above who voluntarily completed the survey from March 18 to March 25, 2026.