Clarifying the Concepts of Personalization and Tailoring: An Interview Study with Experts

Abstract

Abstract Background: Although personalization and tailoring are identified as alternatives for a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for eHealth technologies, there is no common understanding of these two concepts and how they should be applied. In the current study, our aim is to describe (1) how tailoring and personalization are defined according to eHealth experts, and what the differences and similarities are, (2) what type of variables can be used to segment eHealth users into more homogenous groups or on the individual level, (3) what elements of eHealth technologies are customized to those segments, and (4) how the segments are matched with eHealth customizations. Methods: Ten eHealth experts were included via purposive and snowball sampling for an interview consisting of two parts: (1) questions about definitions of personalization and tailoring and questions related to segmentation and customization, (2) responses to three vignettes on examples of eHealth technologies, varying in personalization and tailoring strategies to elicit responses about their views on how the two components were applied and matched in different contexts. Results: Responses were analyzed using a combination of deductive and inductive coding. First, deductive codes were assigned to fragments related to Definitions (n = 25), Segmentation (n = 298), Customization (n = 100) and Matching (n = 56). Within the theme ‘Definitions’ participants mentioned several distinguishing factors (n = 25) between personalization and tailoring. Within the theme ‘Segmentation’ participants mentioned nine types of variables that can be used (n = 227) and eight data collection methods (n = 71). Within the theme ‘Customization’ five elements were mentioned that can be customized (n = 100), namely channeling, content, graphical, functionalities and behavior change strategy. Within the theme ‘Matching’ participants mentioned substantiation methods (n =24) and the variable level on which matching takes place (n = 32). Conclusions: We observed that personalization and tailoring are multidimensional concepts in which multiple factors come into play that determine how these concepts should be applied to eHealth. Intra- and inter-individual differences among the target group and technology affordances determine whether and how personalization and tailoring can be applied most effectively to eHealth technologies according to participants.