Digital participation in service environments among senior electricity consumers in Finland

Research to date suggests that older adults engage with digital technologies less frequently than young adults. Studies typically focus on chronological age, ignoring the effects of life course factors on the adoption and use of digital technologies. By utilising multiple triangulation, the article investigates the role of age and life course stage in the usage of an electricity company’s online services among senior consumers. The data are derived from an internet-based survey study (N=1,366) and six focus group discussions involving Finnish electricity consumers (N=29). The results suggest that online consumers aged 50 and over utilise electricity company online services more frequently than younger consumers. Seniors report lack of knowledge regarding online environments less frequently than young adults. On the bodily level, senior consumers mention physical discomfort as a challenge and maintaining a physically active lifestyle as a driving force for digital participation. On the mental level, seniors report environmentally conscious attitudes and altruistic values as a challenge and social connectedness as a motivation to digital participation. On the biographical level, a decline in social networks challenges digital participation but simultaneously provides new opportunities for strengthening existing networks. In conclusion, the article suggests that life course factors (e.g. multidimensionality of age and other socio-demographic variables, such as occupation and income level) may better explain use of electricity company online services among seniors than chronological age.


Introduction
In a digital society, companies and other service providers now offer various digital platforms in order to engage their customers in active use of online environments. Digital platforms are constituted around producing and consuming personal data to manage various aspects of everyday life [40]. Among consumers, the internet is now used for various purposes ranging from bank services, reading the online newspapers, producing and consuming blogs and other social media, and searching for information on health, nutrition, travel, and leisure activities.
In Finland, almost all online activities are performed less frequently by older adults than by middle-aged and young people [46]. For instance, use of the internet for online bank services is most active among adults aged 35 to 44 (98%). The majority (83%) of late middle-agers (aged 55 to 64) have used the internet for bank services in the past 12 months, but among adults aged 75 to 89, the amount is only 27%. In certain online activities, late middle-agers have become active users; still, online activities that involve social participation are more typical for young people [46].
Research on older adults' engagement with digital technologies has proposed various reasons for the use and non-use of online environments among senior consumers. Although adults aged 65 and over have become more active online, they use the internet and personal smartphones, desktops, laptops, e-readers and tablets less frequently in comparison to younger age groups [19,33,38,41,48] and thus lag behind in digital engagement [14,32,34,44,49]. Along with age, other socio-demographic factors such as income, socio-economic position and education level are associated with technology use such that disadvantaged social groups more likely lack access to technology such as the internet [14,41,50].
Furthermore, behavioural indicators such as attitudes towards the internet and other individual judgements and considerations shape experience with technologies. Among older adults, a lack of internet attitude, feeling too old, a lack of internet experience or skills, M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 3 insufficient time, and high connection costs have been recognised as barriers causing limited or non-use of the internet [19,24,29,31,34].
This article explores the role of age and life course stage in digital participation among senior electricity consumers in Finland. The study examines seniors, or adults aged 50 and over who are experiencing late midlife (approximately years 46 to 60) and approaching old adulthood (approximately ages 61 and over) [21]. Representing a specific yet heterogeneous group of consumers, adults aged 50 and over are encountering life transitions related to work and family life [6,21], which may influence the usage of digital technologies.
Previous research on older adults and digital technologies addresses the usage of certain devices, thus paying less attention to the usage of online services. The article focuses first on the usage of an electricity company's online services, and second on the role of age and life course stage in digital participation among electricity consumers. The article begins with an overview of theoretical concepts regarding digital participation across the life course. This is followed by an empirical investigation of digital participation among senior consumers, analysing both quantitative and qualitative data. At the end, the results are discussed with respect to challenges and opportunities in senior consumers' digital participation at the bodily, mental, and biographical levels.

Participation in digital environments
Participation in digital environments refers to various forms of online engagement which revolve around online-based interaction between consumers and service providers [26,27].
Many companies and service providers, electricity companies among others, now offer digital platforms that enable their customers to manage personal data related to electricity consumption. Through mobile applications and other digital services, consumers are able to track their energy consumption in order to save energy or minimise the costs related to it. In internet environments, consumers are actively recruited into production by offering management tools to quantify and calculate personal data. Participating in an electricity company's online services resembles social media, where digital tools are applied to connect and share information between individuals, social groups, and a customer and a company.
These kinds of participatory media [7,43] are associated with questions of social stratification [27], and active online participation is typically considered beneficial for both individuals and companies [26].
In the usage of an electricity company's online services, various participatory forms of interaction and production are involved. These include online communication with customer service, connecting with the company's social media networks, receiving advertising information and status updates, and sharing personal data with a social network. Among consumers, participation in digital platforms may result in user empowerment, such as greater self-acceptance, more self-confidence, and a reduction in perceived isolation [1]. New media can thus strengthen the exchange relationships between companies and consumers [9,42].
Consumers' engagement can be viewed as prosumption, which combines consumption with productive input [5]. The interaction between producers and consumers contributes to collaborative value creation, where consumers of new media actively create their input into the design and production of services [26]. This is expected to improve the customer experience by increasing interactivity as well as lead to an increase in satisfaction and trust [9,42].
In digital servicescapes, consumers apply digital technologies that exist to enhance the customer experience, but quite often, digital technologies make the interaction between consumers and suppliers more complex [3]. Due to the lack of physical attributes, in online M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 5 servicescapes, maintaining interaction and dialogue, which typically contributes to the customers' sense of wellbeing, encounters challenges, and factors such as aesthetic appeal, layout, functionality, and financial security become key components of virtual space [16].
Social interaction is central to customer experience on the internet [51], and through signs and symbols, consumers' expectations are managed. In digital environments, individuals interpret each other's actions symbolically [4]. In consequence, service providers, consumers, and participants co-create the virtual servicescape reality they are experiencing [3].

Digital participation in the lives of seniors
Consumer participation in digital environments is expected to increase quality of life by strengthening social networks, providing tools for active ageing, and enhancing active participation in consumer culture [28]. Research on older adults' internet and computer use has typically concentrated on cognitive and motor skills, indicating that older adults possess diminished skills in computer use [8]. The lack of skills has been associated with generational experiences, indicating that older adults, born as 'digital immigrants' [36], lack certain knowledge in relation to digital environments due to delayed exposure to digital technologies in young adulthood. Participating, sharing and connecting in digital environments nevertheless changes across the life course, as people in various stages of life possess different needs, routines, and desires that influence digital activity [47]. The dynamics and processes of digital participation are thus significantly influenced by life stage, which transforms the co-creation of digital services into a more fragmented and individualised process in different groups of people.
The effect of life course stage on digital skills, access and attitudes towards technology can be understood on three levels. On a bodily level, changes in physical condition and perceptual and motor abilities may affect interest and disinterest in technologies [8,30]. On a mental M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 6 level, older adults may report a lack of internet attitude, feeling too old, and frustration with learning experiences [13,17,19]. Lack of internet attitude indicates motivational problems that are associated with internet anxiety and may result in attempts to minimise the time spent at the computer [10]. On a biographical level, changes in social and personal relationships may influence access to technology. For instance, the presence of children in the household may increase adults' internet use [22], as children may provide a reason to acquire internet access and enhance adults' interest and skills in using the internet [12,47]. Stronger social ties might predict better access to the internet, as those who are lonely mention lack of access as a reason for non-use of the internet more often [19].
Among senior consumers, social support that is exchanged through digital media can therefore enable digital participation. For older adults, social connections and intimate relationships maintained by digital media are sources of emotional strength [28,37]. With ageing, senior consumers encounter changes in social and personal relationships: social networks narrow, yet they become more meaningful [6], and older people have a stronger need for maintaining meaningful ties with established social partners [2. 11]. When people become older, these social ties become threatened due to poor health, death of relatives and family members, and residential relocation of friends and family [28]. In later life opportunities for socialising may become more restricted due to decreasing health and mobility [25] and reduced motivation and energy [18]. The weakening of social networks may thus reduce digital activity, as social support that is typically needed for active online engagement becomes less available [20,37]. To advance the understanding of the life stage factors behind digital participation, these biographical factors need to be taken into consideration.

Research questions
Previous research on older adults' use of digital technologies has mostly focused on chronological age, putting less emphasis on the life course factors in digital engagement [19,33,38,41,48]. In order to better characterise the dynamics between digital servicescapes and consumption in relation to age, the article takes into consideration the multidimensional role of age in digital participation. The article explores digital participation among senior

Quantitative data
The study utilises data from an online survey conducted among Finnish-speaking electricity consumers (N=1,366) and five focus group discussions conducted among electricity consumers of Jyväskylä Energy Group (N=29). The online survey was administrated between November 2015 and January 2016 to Finnish-speaking internet users from various electricity companies. The online survey was distributed through several online forums in order to reach a heterogeneous group of respondents 1 . In addition, the online survey was delivered via electricity companies. The target group of the survey consisted of participants aged 50 and over (N=743) with a control group of participants aged 18 to 49 (N=623). The age categorisation was based on developmental studies that consider late midlife to start at approximately age 46 [21].
Despite the relatively high number of respondents, the survey sample covered participants who most likely had more frequent access to internet and online services in comparison to the Finnish population on average [46]. When distributing an online survey through online forums it is not possible to gather a population-based sample. Moreover, the age group of participants aged 50 and over was overrepresented in relation to participants aged 18 to 49.
This indicates that participants aged 50 and over were likely more active internet users in comparison to all Finnish-speaking adults of the same age group. Therefore, when interpreting the results it is important to take into consideration the selection of participants, who in this study represented active internet users with a relatively high interest in electricity consumption.
The survey questionnaire was composed of 17 questions measuring the use of digital services, with 10 questions measuring the socio-demographic background of the respondents.
Out of 17 questions, 11 measured the use of or interest in using electricity company online services. These 11 questions measured the frequency of use of, interest in using, reasons for non-use of, and customer satisfaction with online services.

Measurements
In the quantitative analysis, digital participation was measured by the frequency of use of the electricity company's online services in the past twelve months. In addition, challenges and obstacles to digital participation were measured by self-reported reasons for non-use of electricity company online services. The dependent variables consist of eight (8) statements measuring the reason for non-use of online services.
The independent variable consists of age with control variables of household type, education, occupation and income level. Regarding household type, respondents were given five (5) answer categories: single, co-habitation with no children, co-habitation with children living at home, co-habitation with children moved away from home, and other. Regarding education, respondents were given seven (7) response options: no education, vocational training, upper secondary school, post-secondary education, Bachelor's degree, Master's degree and Doctoral degree 2 . Occupation level was determined with five categories (5): employed, student, retired, stay-at-home-parent, and unemployed. Income level was measured in euros and recoded into four (4) income quintiles.

Statistical procedures
The analysis started with descriptive statistics on the frequency of use of the electricity company's online services. A contingency table was constructed with related statistical tests in order to compare the frequency of use between different age groups (18-30; 31-49; 50-65; 66-83). Pearson's chi-squared test was used to assess the significance of the differences between the age groups.
The analysis continued with a factor analysis of reasons for non-use of online services. The factor analysis was carried out with the principal axis factoring method and promax rotation to reveal the latent dimension of the variables.
The ANOVA model was designed and executed to examine the effect of age while controlling for other independent variables (household type, education, occupation and income level). The ANOVA model also showed which independent variables were significant predictors of reasons for non-use of online services. The factor scores of reasons for non-use were used as continuous independent variables and age, household type, education, occupation, and income level were used as categorical variables.

Qualitative data
To deepen and broaden the online survey data, five (5) focus group discussions were conducted for customers of a local electricity, water and district heat provider in the city of Jyväskylä, Finland. Participants (N=29) were recruited in co-operation with a research company. By utilising the database of the research company, an invitation to take part in group discussions was sent via text message to electricity consumers over 50 years of age living in the Jyväskylä area. Consumers of this age group were selected for the focus groups as they represented late middle-agers who are encountering specific life transitions related to work and family life [21]. In total 122 persons responded to the invitation, and 64 persons enrolled as volunteers for the group discussions. Of these 64 persons, 29 were able to take part in group discussions according to the proposed schedule.
The focus group discussions covered research areas derived from the internet-based survey, e.g., electricity consumption, participation in the electricity company's online services, and the usage of digital services in general. Each discussion, conducted as a semi-structured group interview, included three to seven participants and lasted approximately 60 minutes.
All participants were aged 50 to 74. Of 29 participants, 19 were males and 10 were females.
There were two researchers moderating the discussions while one researcher took notes. The group discussions were recorded and transcribed, resulting in 104 pages of transcribed text.

Qualitative analysis
In order to reveal the multidimensionality of age in association with digital participation, focus group discussions were analysed by using a qualitative content analysis method.
Analysis was guided by theoretical and conceptual presumptions on the role of age in digital participation [8,12,13,19,30]. In the first phase of the analysis, all expressions related to digital technologies were separated from the main text. In the second phase, expressions were categorised under three categories: bodily ageing, mental ageing, and biographical ageing. In all phases of analysis, the analysis unit was a sentence or statement articulated by one interviewee. The data expressions were interpreted in order to understand and explain the association between age and digital technologies [15]. Table 1 shows the contingency table comparing the use of the electricity company's online services in the past 12 months among different age groups. Online consumers aged 50 to 65 and 66 to 83 utilised the electricity company online services most frequently. Of consumers aged 50 to 65, 25% participated in the electricity company's online services two to three times in the last 12 months, and among consumers aged 66 to 83, the amount was 31%.

Digital participation among senior electricity consumers (RQ1)
Among young consumers, only a small percentage participated in online services more than six times in the last 12 months, but among seniors aged 66 to 83, 19% utilised the electricity company's online services more than nine times in the last 12 months.     In the ANOVA model for reasons for non-use of the electricity company's online services, age did not remain a statistically significant predictor for lack of usability, lack of skills, or lack of routines. In lack of usability, education level, occupation level and income level were more significant determinants of reasons for non-use than chronological age. Respondents with a vocational degree, upper secondary degree or university degree reported lack of usability less frequently than respondents with no education. The employed as well as those with a lower income reported lack of usability most frequently. Respondents in higher income quintiles reported lack of usability less frequently. Household type did not remain a significant predictor for lack of usability.
In lack of knowledge, age remained a significant determinant for non-use of online services Lack of knowledge was least typical for respondents aged 50 to 65. In addition to age, income level predicted lack of knowledge, and the respondents in higher income quintiles reported lack of knowledge least frequently. In lack of knowledge, education, occupation, and household type did not remain significant predictors.

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A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 14 In lack of skills, age and other socio-demographic variables did not predict non-use. In lack of routines, the only statistically significant determinant of non-use was income level, and the respondents in higher income levels reported lack of routines least frequently.

The role of life course stage in digital participation among senior consumers (RQ2)
In the ANOVA model of reasons for non-use of online services, chronological age thus appeared to be a less significant predictor in non-use of online environments than other sociodemographic variables. Therefore, six focus group discussions were analysed in order to consider other dimensions of ageing in relation to digital participation. The focus group discussions provided an approach to the reasons and purposes behind digital participation on a broader level and therefore extended the analysis of participation beyond just a certain electricity company's online services.

Bodily aspects of ageing
Particularly female consumers discussed participation in digital environments in relation to bodily dimensions of their daily life. Bodily consequences that accompanied ageing were conceptualised as challenges to digital participation. Female participants mentioned physical symptoms such as discomfort and aches that related to using a digital device, e.g., dry eyes or a dizzy feeling that were caused by spending time at the computer. Physical discomfort was associated with increased time spent online, particularly if the respondent was still in working life and had to use computers during the work day: Usage of digital technologies was thus described in relation to bodily activities, such as sleeping, sitting on a computer, sitting on a couch, and staring at a screen. As such, digital participation aroused many emotions that varied from wonder to excitement and from worry to anger [45]. Excitement with digital participation was connected to practices that enabled

Mental aspects of ageing
In group discussions, both male and female respondents reflected on ageing in terms of Participants thus articulated mental ageing in association with contradictions between personal needs and desires. In middle age and late midlife, people typically become less selfcentered as they need to adjust to other people's needs and limit social conflict [21]. For senior consumers, this altruistic attitude was embodied in appreciation of and satisfaction with the current stage of life, instead of desiring something new and missing. Mental ageing manifested in willingness to strengthen existing bonds and practices instead of desiring novel ones [6]. This emotional aspect was associated with digital participation, as seniors were willing to learn in relation to existing practices and equipment that they already perceived as meaningful and important [44]. However, seniors were selective in what kind of online M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D In digital participation, senior consumers thus longed for purposeful participation and social connectedness that was related to online and offline interaction [37]. I chatted with the online bank's customer service a few days ago. I had a problem, they couldn't help me. I didn't get the response I was looking for. And, I wanted to contact one online store since I was looking for a pair of jeans. I called them and asked (---). They couldn't help me. (Female, B3)

Biographical aspects of ageing
Older adults reported life transitions as motivators to go online and take part in various digital platforms. Retirement was identified as a transition that leads to a decline in social networks.

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A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 20 As people retire, their daily social contact might decrease, and online activities provide a way to connect socially and take part in activities that enhance the feeling of connectedness. A retired female participant described how engaging with online platforms provided a sense of belonging to communities and improved the opportunities for social communication:

Conclusions and discussion
By utilising multiple triangulation, the study investigated the participation of senior consumers in digital platforms and the role of age and life course in digital participation. In response to RQ1, the study reveals that online consumers aged 50 and over utilise electricity company online services more frequently than younger consumers. Senior consumers, typically possessing more ecological attitudes towards consumption than young adults [23], may have a stronger interest in tracking electricity consumption online in order to minimise the environmental effects of electricity consumption. In contrast to previous research [19,33,38,41,48], older adults do not report lack of skills as a reason for the non-usage of digital services more frequently than young adults. In fact, adults aged 50 to 65 report lack of knowledge as a reason for the non-usage of electricity company online services least frequently in comparison to other age groups, indicating that the knowledge gap is perhaps becoming a less relevant predictor of older adults' digital participation. Particularly older adults who already have access to digital devices and services possess advanced digital skills, although the usage of the devices is associated with socio-economic position, such as education and income level [19,41]. This supports the idea that not only skills, but also access to technology affects digital activity, since access and skills are closely intertwined [44]. changes in everyday routines, activities and relationships, older adults may prefer face-toface interaction, which may reduce interest in digital activity but provide opportunities for social connectedness [28,35,37,44]. On a biographical level, both normative life events, such as retirement and accidents affect willingness to engage in digital servicescapes. A transformation in social networks [6,28] creates new needs and desires to improve social communication, and increased leisure time may result in more active participation in consumer culture. This may minimise the perceived negative aspects of ageing in relation to digital technologies [13,17,19] and provide new mechanisms to apply digital technologies in ingenious ways. These life stage factors thus provide tangible instruments to define the multidimensional role of life stage in mediated participation. Through these instruments, it is possible to build an understanding of the association between ageing and digital consumption that expands the generational experience of chronological age in digital participation.
Consumer participation, revolving around internet-based interaction between consumers and service providers [26,27], involves many symbolic attributes that may give rise to contradictions between senior consumers and service providers. The results of this study suggest that, among senior consumers, engagement in the prosumption of personal data is compromised due to difficulties in communication with service providers. Among senior consumers, online communication with customer service, connecting with a company's social media networks, receiving advertising information and status updates, and sharing personal data with a social network requires a sense of meaningful contact. Maintaining interaction and dialogue with senior consumers requires sensitivity to enhance the customer experience in digital servicescapes. To investigate mediated participation across the life course, these issues should be explored in more detail, to create new mechanisms for including the aged population in the co-creation of digital services.

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A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 24 The study contains certain limitations concerning the representativeness of the data. The respondents of the survey represent only Finnish internet users who probably possess better access to the internet and other digital devices than the population on average. With a webbased survey it was not possible to reach respondents who lacked internet access. The selection of participants was focused on adults aged 50 and over, in particular. Older adults may be more likely to use electricity company online services in general, and therefore they were overrepresented in the survey sample. Therefore, the survey sample covers mostly users who are both active online in general and interested in electricity consumption in particular.
In addition, the interview data covered local electricity consumers from a certain company and area. Despite these limitations, the study was able to shed light on the multidimensionality of age in relation to digital participation and contribute to the discussion of older adults' usage of digital technologies across the life course. • Older adults report lack of knowledge regarding online environments less frequently • Chronological age appears less significant predictor for non-use of online services • A framework for life course factors in digital participation is proposed • Digital participation is conseptualised in bodily, mental and biographical levels