Describing the use of behavior change techniques among the most popular home workout channels on YouTube: A quantitative content analysis

Abstract

The purpose of our study was to describe characteristics of behavior change techniques (BCTs) employed by popular YouTube fitness channels and examine relationships between BCTs used and engagement metrics (e.g. views, likes, comments). Seventy-five videos were coded according to BCT Taxonomy v1. Multi-level modeling was conducted between BCTs and engagement metrics. Fifty-four unique BCTs were used, with “Demonstration of behavior” and “Instruction on how to perform the behavior” used the most. The number of BCTs employed was 12.5 ± 6.65 and BCTs were all unrelated to engagement metrics ( ps > 0.05). Application of BCTs within YouTube varies from traditional exercise interventions.

What to watch: Practical considerations and strategies for using YouTube for research

“… 38 Additionally, we conducted visual/textual analyses for the use of behaviour change techniques 39 and other elements among the 15 most popular fitness channels on YouTube. 40 Juxtaposition of our research onto the proposed schematic is detailed in Table 2 .…”