ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1541771
Designing aesthetically authentic, restorative, and socially interactive environments for retirement homes: Impacts on senior consumers' relocation intention
Provisionally accepted
Xianyao Ding1
Xiaowen Xiong2*- 1Xihua University, Chengdu, China
- 2Sichuan Polytechnic University, Deyang, China
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Drawing on the ecological model of aging and the technology acceptance model, this study investigates how three design factors—aesthetic authenticity, restorative design, and social interaction design—shape senior consumers' relocation intentions in urban China. Based on survey data from 331 seniors, our analysis reveals a nuanced decision-making process. While all the above three factors positively influence attitudinal beliefs, their paths to shaping relocation intention differ. Aesthetic authenticity has a significant indirect effect through attitudinal beliefs, suggesting it is an intrinsic motivator. In contrast, the indirect effects of restorative and social interaction design are only significant when facilitating conditions (e.g., financial and social support) are high. These findings contribute to gerontechnology and environmental design literature by demonstrating how foundational psychological needs and value-added features are weighed differently in seniors' relocation decisions. We also provide practical implications for stakeholders on designing and marketing retirement communities within China's evolving socio-cultural landscape.
Keywords: Aesthetic authenticity, Restorative design, Social interaction design, Attitudinal beliefs, Facilitating conditions, senior consumers' relocation intentions
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ding and Xiong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaowen Xiong, xiong724@scpu.edu.cn
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