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The double burden of age and unemployment suggests that older unemployed individuals are particularly affected by digital divide. To investigate the characteristics and user types of older unemployed individuals with respect to digital media, we conduct a survey on this target group in cooperation with the German Federal Employment Agency. We apply cluster analysis to give more nuanced insights into people's usage of digital media services for job search, their attitude with respect to those services, currently perceived barriers and product preferences. Results suggest that older unemployed individuals are a nuanced group with a great range of different usage behaviours and attitudes towards digital media. Specifically, we identify the user types Digital Sceptics, Digital Classics, Digital Interactives and Digital Contributors. We show that a large group of older unemployed individuals is accessible for digital media in the context of job search and identify pathways of how our findings can be used to leverage digital media use for job search in this target group. Our study contributes to literature on digital media user typologies and has important policy implications for addressing the digital divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a design-oriented methodology, we aim to support unemployed people facing complex barriers like drug addiction or poverty by designing and evaluating an online intervention that complements traditional face-to-face offline counselling with online peer groups. Our peer-group-based job counselling approach provides peer support in an intimate environment, independent of time and place. We implemented our approach at the German Federal Employment Agency with a messaging application and evaluated it in a randomised field experiment and expert interviews. Results indicate that the approach adds substantial value compared to face-to-face offline counselling, particularly with respect to job search self-efficacy, self-exploration, and environmental exploration -- proven success indicators for the employment of unemployed people with complex barriers. It further demonstrates the benefits of online characteristics and how online peer groups and offline interventions can cross-fertilize in this context. Our study contributes to the literature on the societal impact of information and communication technologies and to design science research, and answers stakeholders' call for modernisation of employment counselling in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-service technologies (SST) such as online check-ins are more and more becoming an integral part of our daily routines. However, while kiosk SST such as automated teller machines in banking are widely used, mobile SST are just beginning to capture the market. Enforcing customers to switch from kiosk to mobile SST sometimes still turns out to be difficult due to routine seeking, privacy risks, or fear of complex user interfaces. As a result, users are locked into a status quo and do not switch to mobile technologies. Thus, there is a need to better understand why customers switch from kiosk to mobile SST. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the factors influencing customers' intention to switch from kiosk to mobile SST. We investigate the positive and negative determinants, which constitute the positive and negative valence of mobile SST as factors influencing the intention to switch. Our study expands existing research by outlining the particular importance of the positive valence for the customers' intention to switch. We further show that multifunctionality, compatibility with the lifestyle, and enjoyment constitute the most crucial positive determinants rather than prestige reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]