Adoption of Health and Fitness Apps by Smartphone Users: Interactive Qualitative Analysis

Mobile health (mHealth) technology enables realtime monitoring and tracking of health and fitness parameters. Despite the rapid proliferation of health and fitness apps, their adoption by smartphone users has been sparsely studied. The present study uses Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), a systems method, to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of health and fitness mobile apps. Following the IQA protocol, focus group discussions were conducted with select participants to identify influential factors (affinities) and relationships. Semi -structured interviews were conducted with another set of select participants with the aim of methodically coding their experiences while exploring the affinities. Subsequent analysis of the coded information led to the formulation of the mental model of the factors that have a bearing on the adoption of the apps. Our findings indicated that technical features, data accuracy and value for money were the primary drivers influencing the adoption of health and fitness mobile apps. Further, our research provided insights into the drivers that played a catalytic role in possibly enhancing consumer acceptance of mHealth applications.