Time to Work Out! Examining the Behavior Change Techniques and Relevant Theoretical Mechanisms that Predict the Popularity of Fitness Mobile Apps with Chinese-Language User Interfaces

ABSTRACT

Eyeing the huge potential mHealth market in China, developers both inside and outside of China have created an increasing number of fitness mobile applications with Chinese-language user interfaces. The present study analyzes the content of those fitness mobile apps (N = 177), with a particular focus on their behavior change techniques and relevant theoretical mechanisms. It finds that three theoretical mechanisms, modeling/observational learning, self-regulation, and social comparison/social support, are prevalent among fitness mobile apps with Chinese-language user interfaces. Moreover, based on the configurations of the behavior change techniques, three distinct clusters are identified: “instructional apps” (N = 75), “self-regulation apps” (N = 58), and “triathlon apps” (N = 44). Among them, “triathlon apps” equipped with technical features reflecting all three theoretical mechanisms are found to be the most popular among users. This suggests the usefulness of health behavior change theories in promoting physical activity via mobile apps in that the inclusion of more theoretical content in the app design enhances the app’s effectiveness. More theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The flowchart detailing the sampling procedure is available upon request.

2. Apps in the iTunes store may have multiple versions in that it is common that developers release updated versions to upgrade the functions and fix the bugs in previous versions. The user review statistics in the iTunes store involve two parts: review statistics for the current version and review statistics for all the versions of the app. The latter is a more accurate reflection of the popularity of the app as it records users’ responses since the debut of the app.

3. Fifty-two apps did not have enough reviews for a rating score (current versions).

4. Twenty-eight apps did not have enough reviews for a rating score (all versions).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Media and Communication of City University of Hong Kong under the Research Grant [project number 9618013].