Adoption of Mobile Health Apps in Dietetic Practice: Case Study of Diyetkolik

Abstract

Background Dietetics mobile health apps provide lifestyle tracking and support on demand. Mobile health has become a new trend for health service providers through which they have been shifting their services from clinical consultations to online apps. These apps usually offer basic features at no cost and charge a premium for advanced features. Although diet apps are now more common and have a larger user base, in general, there is a gap in literature addressing why users intend to use diet apps. We used Diyetkolik, Turkey’s most widely used online dietetics platform for 7 years, as a case study to understand the behavioral intentions of users. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence the behavioral intentions of users to adopt and use mobile health apps. We used the Technology Acceptance Model and extended it by exploring other factors such as price-value, perceived risk, and trust factors in order to assess the technology acceptance of users. Methods We conducted quantitative research on the Diyetkolik app users by using random sampling. Valid data samples gathered from 658 app users were analyzed statistically by applying structural equation modeling. Results Statistical findings suggested that perceived usefulness (P<.001), perceived ease of use (P<.001), trust (P<.001), and price-value (P<.001) had significant relationships with behavioral intention to use. However, no relationship between perceived risk and behavioral intention was found (P=.99). Additionally, there was no statistical significance for age (P=.09), gender (P=.98), or previous app use experience (P=.14) on the intention to use the app. Conclusions This research is an invaluable addition to Technology Acceptance Model literature. The results indicated that 2 external factors (trust and price-value) in addition to Technology Acceptance Model factors showed statistical relevance with behavioral intention to use and improved our understanding of user acceptance of a mobile health app. The third external factor (perceived risk) did not show any statistical relevance regarding behavioral intention to use. Most users of the Diyetkolik dietetics app were hesitant in purchasing dietitian services online. Users should be frequently reassured about the security of the platform and the authenticity of the platform’s dietitians to ensure that users’ interactions with the dietitians are based on trust for the platform and the brand.

Toward a Better Understanding of the Intention to Use mHealth Apps: Exploratory Study

“…Accordingly, Gorkem et al [ 23 ] investigated what factors may influence users’ behavioral intentions to adopt and use mHealth apps. To this end, the authors extended the TAM with external factors such as price value, trust factors, and perceived risk and evaluated users’ technology acceptance.…”

Users' Perspective on the AI-Based Smartphone PROTEIN App for Personalized Nutrition and Healthy Living: A Modified Technology Acceptance Model (mTAM) Approach

“…From a comparative analysis across the TAM, UTAUT, and D&M-IS-SM reported in (68), TAM exhibits the highest popularity and the most fecundity. With regard to the evidence from previous studies, TAM was preferred in evaluating users' adoption of mobile health apps for nutrition and active living, such as in (69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74). Furthermore, in the D&M-IS-SM, there is a very broad concept of Net Benefits; this poses some challenges in clearly and carefully defining the stakeholders and context in which such net benefits are to be measured (64,65).…”

The Antecedents of Intention to Use Telemedicine

“…This position was stated in research that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust influence intentions to use mobile payments (Lin, Yang, & Chang, 2020). Furthermore, perceived usefulness significantly affects behavioral intentions to use mobile health (Akdur, Aydin, & Akdur 2020).…”