The Influence of Incentive-based Mobile Fitness Apps on Users’ Continuance Intention with Gender Moderation Effects: Quantitative and Qualitative Study (Preprint)

Abstract

A survey conducted by Mckinsey and Company reported that as of May 2022, as many as 26% of Indonesians had started to actively engage in physical activity, 32% had regular physical activity, and 9% exercised more intensely. The industrial revolution 4.0 made fitness applications used to track people's sports performance develop rapidly. Even so, public interest in using mobile fitness applications (MFA) for a long time is still relatively low.

This study aims to determine the effect of incentives on fitness applications (self-monitoring, social support, platform rewards, and external influence) on users' continuance usage intention by using the gender moderation effect.

This study used a quantitative approach with an online questionnaire involving 379 valid respondents and a qualitative approach with 30 respondents who were interviewed. Quantitative data were processed using the covariance-based structural equation modeling. Qualitative data is processed using thematic analysis. MFA included in the object of this research include Apple Fitness, Strava, Nike Run Club, Fita, and all MFA used as sports or physical activity companions for their users.

The results of data analysis show that three incentives namely self-monitoring, platform rewards, and external influence except social support have an effect on the perceived usefulness of application users. In addition, gender has also been shown to influence user behavior to increase their physical activity. This research shows that women are more likely to be motivated to exercise because of social and external features, while men pay more attention to tracking features and challenges or rewards.

This research can contribute to the field of mobile health to provide guidance for fitness application developers in developing their application features.