Abstract:

[Purpose/Significance] As the information society continues to evolve, elderly populations increasingly experience information anxiety when confronted with overwhelming volumes of digital content. This anxiety, characterized by feelings of tension, helplessness, and frustration during information-seeking tasks, represents a significant barrier to older adults' engagement with digital reading and public cultural services. While emerging metaverse and virtual reality (VR) technologies have shown promise in enhancing user experience across various domains, the specific mechanisms through which immersive reading environments might alleviate information anxiety among elderly users remain insufficiently understood. This study addresses this critical gap by investigating whether and how VR-based immersive reading technology, as a representative implementation of metaverse technology in reading services, can effectively reduce information anxiety among elderly users. [Method/Process] Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, this study employed a quasi-experimental design combined with survey methodology. Immersion and interactivity serve as the stimulus variables (S), flow experience and perceived control constitute the organism variables (O), and changes in information anxiety represent the response variable (R). A total of 247 adults aged 60 and above were recruited from community senior activity centers across four major Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu), yielding 235 valid responses. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group (n=118), which completed thematic reading tasks in a VR immersive reading environment using Meta Quest 3 headsets, or a control group (n=117), which completed identical reading tasks on tablet devices. Three reading themes were designed: traditional Chinese festival culture, home health and wellness knowledge, and local scenic and historical stories. Pre-test and post-test measures of information anxiety were collected, along with post-task assessments of immersion, interactivity, flow experience, perceived control, and digital literacy. Semi-structured interviews with 40 participants supplemented the quantitative findings. Structural equation modeling was used to test path relationships, Bootstrap methods for mediation effects, and hierarchical regression for moderation analysis. [Results/Conclusions] The empirical results reveal several key findings. First, no significant difference in baseline information anxiety was observed between groups (t=0.347, p=0.729). Following the reading task, the experimental group exhibited significantly lower information anxiety (t=-6.827, p<0.001, Cohen's d=-1.342). Second, SEM analysis confirmed two parallel mediation pathways: immersion positively influenced flow experience (β=0.581, p<0.001), which negatively influenced information anxiety (β=-0.432, p<0.001); interactivity positively influenced perceived control (β=0.532, p<0.001), which negatively influenced information anxiety (β=-0.378, p<0.001). Third, digital literacy positively moderated both pathways: the immersion-flow relationship was stronger for users with higher digital literacy (interaction β=0.194, p<0.01), and the interactivity-perceived control relationship was similarly strengthened (interaction β=0.237, p<0.001). Fourth, multi-group analysis revealed that perceived control's effect on anxiety reduction was significantly stronger among older elderly adults (aged above 70). Qualitative interviews further supported these findings, describing how spatial information presentation reduced cognitive burden and natural interaction reduced operational uncertainty. The study concludes that metaverse immersive reading technology can effectively reduce elderly users' information anxiety through cognitive and operational pathways, but the effect is moderated by digital literacy and age. Practical implications include embedding immersive reading within structured programs, designing control-enhancing features as foundational infrastructure, and providing targeted support for elderly users with lower digital literacy. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to assess durability, factorial designs to separate immersion and interactivity contributions, and more inclusive sampling strategies.

Key words: metaverse, immersive reading, elderly users, information anxiety, flow experience, digital literacy