The aim of this study is to identify the impact of the personal beliefs of the elderly on their attitude toward using online public services. To test hypotheses regarding the determinants and background of technology readiness, questionnaires were administered to the elderly in Japan and in the UK, countries with a well-developed online public services infrastructure and an aging population. After structural equation modelling analysis, the research identified that aging satisfaction is the strongest factor in terms of influencing online public services usage, and this is developed through social interaction. Additionally, the research identified similarities and differences stemming from the cultural background of the respondents regarding their fear of using ICT. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the elderly's personal beliefs in terms of online technology usage and relevant social support, which may pave the way for determining an elderlyfriendly social policy for diffusing new technology and services.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a process model for the role transformation of vulnerable consumers through support services.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on four years of participant observation at a community-based support service and in-depth interviews with the consumers. Visual ethnography was used to document the process of the consumers' role transformation through service exchanges.FindingsThe main outcome of this study is a consumer transformation model, describing consumers' role transformation processes, from recipients to generic actors. The model demonstrates that vulnerable consumers will transform from recipients to quasi-actors before becoming generic actors.Social implicationsVulnerable consumers' participation in value cocreation can be promoted by providing social support according to their dynamic roles. By enabling consumers to participate in value cocreation, social support provision can become sustainable and inclusive, especially in rural areas affected by aging and depopulation. Transforming recipients into generic actors should be a critical aim of service provision in the global challenge of aging societies.Originality/valueBeyond identifying service factors, the research findings describe the mechanism of consumers' role transformation process as a service mechanics study. Furthermore, this study contributes to transformative service research by applying social exchange theory and broadening service-dominant logic by describing the process of consumer growth for individual and community well-being.

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To solve the “wicked problems” of sustainability, education for sustainable development (EfSD) that raises the young generation to become change agents is necessary. For this purpose, fieldtrips that educate students in the real world about other stakeholders are effective, but since sustainable issues do not have clear solutions, cooperative learning (CL) in which students learn from each other is useful. The purpose of this study is to clarify the influence of the learning process on learning outcomes and their influence on learning objectives in real-world EfSD using CL. A hypothesis model consisting of seven hypotheses was set up, and a questionnaire survey of high school students who participated in the real-world EfSD was conducted. Results of the structural equation modeling of data from 2441 respondents supported all seven hypotheses. Implicit learning as a learning process promotes knowledge acquisition as a learning outcome, while explicit learning enhances self-efficacy. Although knowledge acquisition promotes citizenship development as the learning objective of EfSD, self-efficacy does not promote citizenship development. Self-efficacy affects knowledge acquisition more than implicit learning. This study contributes to EfSD research by clarifying the difference in the effects of the learning process.

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