Age Differences in the Subjective Valuation of Technology

Drawing from the decision-making literature, the framing and cross-modal discounting paradigms were used to investigate the effect of age on the subjective valuation of technology. Using the framing paradigm to covertly measure age differences in relative subjective valuation, it was hypothesized that older adults would undervalue technology relative to younger adults and when compared to non-technology-related rewards. Through the use of the cross-modal discounting paradigm, it was also hypothesized that older adults would display a larger perceived attribute difference between technology and non-technology-related rewards when compared to younger adults. Three experiments were conducted utilizing both online and in-lab samples. Analysis of the framing items revealed few age differences in risky choice preferences across the scenario modalities. Gift cards for technology or non-technology-related items were not found to be subjectively valued differently between age groups, or differently from unallocated money within age groups. Analysis of the cross-modal discounting items revealed a subset of individuals, evenly distributed across age groups, which perceived a large attribute difference between the gift cards, showing a preference for the non-technology-related reward. These outwardly contradictory results and implications for older adults and technology adoption are discussed.