Consumers’ needs in nutrition apps to start and maintain usage: a mixed methods study (Preprint)

Abstract

Nutrition apps seem promising tools in supporting consumers towards healthier eating habits. There is a wide variety of nutrition apps available, however only a small group of Dutch consumers makes use of such apps. Another issue is that users often discontinue app usage in an early stage, before a permanent change in dietary behaviour can be achieved.

The main objective of the current study is to identify from both a user- and non-user perspective which functionalities should be included in nutrition apps to increase intentions to start and maintain usage of these apps. A secondary objective is to gain insight in reasons to quit using nutrition apps in an early stage.

The study used a mixed methods approach and included a qualitative and a quantitative study. The qualitative study (N= 40) consisted of a home-use test with six commercially available nutrition apps, followed by six focus group discussions (FGDs) to investigate user experiences. The quantitative study was a large-scale survey (N=1420) in a representative sample of the Dutch population, to quantify the FGDs results. In the survey, several app functionalities were rated on 7-point Likert scales, ranging from 1 = very unimportant to 7 = very important.

Three different phases of app usage, subdivided into ten user-centric app aspects, and 46 associated app functionalities were identified as relevant nutrition app elements in the FGDs. The relevance was confirmed in the survey, as all user-centric aspects and almost all app functionalities were rated as important to include in a nutrition app (mean scores ≥ 4). In the starting phase, a clear introduction (5.45 ± 1.32), purpose (5.40 ± 1.40) and flexible food tracking options (5.33 ± 1.45) were the most important functionalities. In the usage phase, a complete and reliable food product database (5.58 ± 1.41), easy navigation (5.56 ± 1.36) and limited advertisements (5.53 ± 1.51) and in the end phase, the possibility to set realistic goals (5.23 ± 1.44), new personal goals (5.13 ± 1.45) and continuously offering new information (4.88 ± 1.44) were most important. No large differences between users, former users and non-users were found here. The main reason for quitting a nutrition app in the survey was the high time investment (37%). This was also identified as a barrier in the FGDs.

Nutrition apps should be supportive in all three phases of usage (start, usage, end) in order to increase consumers intentions to start and maintain the use of these apps and achieve a change in dietary behaviour. Each of these phases include several key app functionalities that need specific attention from app developers. The high time investment is an important reason to quit nutrition app usage in an early stage.