Investigating gameplay intention of the elderly using an Extended Technology Acceptance Model (ETAM)

• Examines elderly's intentions to play digital games.
• Extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).
• Finds new factors having predictive power on gameplay intention.
• Presents the moderating effect of gender, age and previous experience on elderly's gameplay intention.
• Suggests design implications of digital games for the elderly.

With the increase in an aging population, there is an urgent need for innovative solutions to help the elderly to improve their lives. Digital games have already been suggested as valuable tools for enriching the lives of old people, however, older users are less familiar with technology and are not likely to be early adopters of digital games. This paper investigates the gameplay intentions of older people based on data collected from 534 elderly respondents. An Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was constructed to tailor to the characteristics of elderly users to explore and examine the impact of potential factors on the gameplay intentions of the elderly. The results revealed the predicting power of game narrative, the social interaction and physical condition of the elderly, and the moderating effects of age, gender and previous experience on older people's gameplay intention. Implications were derived for the design of novel digital games that could foster physical activity, social interaction and entertainment for older people, especially for those who live alone.