Consumer Age as a Predictor of Videotex Adoption.

Two studies are reported that tested the effects of age with the predisposition to adopt videotex services. The first study, conducted in April 1982, consisted of 478 telephone interviews of Cox Cable subscribers in San Diego. The second study, conducted in summer 1982, consisted of face-to-face interviews with 107 respondents, selected through random digit dials of households in the San Diego Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. Interviews for the second study were conducted after respondents were exposed to a half-hour demonstration of a working videotex system in a laboratory. The potential effects of three potential intervening variables--automated teller machine usage, prior "hands-on" computer experiences, and Home Box Office subscription status--were controlled. A strong, linear, negative relationship between consumer age and predisposition to adopt videotex services in both studies was found which was independent of the three variables. (Author/LMM)