Continuous use of fitness apps and shaping factors among college students: A mixed-method investigation

Abstract

Objective This current study pursued an exploration of the psychological mechanism that determines college students’ continuance intention to use fitness apps. Methods This current study adopted a mixed methods research that composed two distinct phases. Study 1 was quantitative research that helped to identify determinants of Chinese college students’ continuance intention to use. A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 379 college students to ascertain their user experience. Study 2 was qualitative research. A semi-structured interview was conducted with a sample of 10 college students. Study 2 can be seen as a follow-up study and it pursued an in-depth understanding on how college students use fitness apps in the everyday life and their views towards study 1’s major findings. Results The results revealed that five factors (confirmed usefulness, confirmed ease of use, satisfaction, fitness achievement and social connection) were found to significantly and positively affect college students’ continuous intention to use fitness apps. Entertainment did not show obvious impact. In the interview, college students reported that even if they don’t obtain entertainment from fitness apps, they will still push themselves to use them, because they have a very specific goal when using fitness apps, which is to achieve health and fitness. Conclusion These findings indicated that successful fitness apps should make users feel convenient to use and indeed improves the fitness user’s efficiency. Besides, people are more eager to get the information with strong credibility with the negligible effort. This implies more efforts should be made to design apps that can provide high-quality services. Moreover, if apps designers can pay more attention to protecting the personal information and data, it will inspire more people to use social connection functions.

The Barriers and Facilitators to the Use of Lifestyle Apps: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies

“…Intrinsic motivation is essential to ensure the continued use of Las [ 2 , 13 ]. Zhang [ 13 ] found that users are “motivated from the inside,” as well as externally.…”

“…Personalised notifications and reminders increase the probability of users adhering to such plans [ 17 , 26 , 28 , 30 , 33 ]. High-quality, relevant, and non-generic feedback stimulates users to reflect upon their actions, hence increasing subsequent engagement [ 2 , 10 , 13 ].…”

“…These are outlined in Figure 4 below. "People are motivated from the inside" [13] Intrinsic motivation is essential to ensure the continued use of Las [2,13]. Zhang [13] found that users are "motivated from the inside," as well as externally.…”

“…"People are motivated from the inside" [13] Intrinsic motivation is essential to ensure the continued use of Las [2,13]. Zhang [13] found that users are "motivated from the inside," as well as externally. As usage of LAs is not compulsory, some level of intrinsic motivation must be present within the user to ensure continued use [2].…”

Influence of Personality Traits on the Continued Use of Fitness Apps

“…The study found that all ECM and some IM variables, such as investment size and commitment, influenced users' continued use of mHealth and fitness apps [34]. To study the intention of young Chinese adults (18 to 30 years old) to continue using fitness apps, the authors extended the ECM with variables such as confirmed ease of use, entertainment, social connection, and fitness achievement [35]. The study revealed that all the variables except entertainment influenced users' continued usage [35] Furthermore, the authors found that users' level of achievement did not lead them to be more satisfied with the apps [35].…”