Examining the antecedents and health outcomes of health apps and wearables use: an integration of the technology acceptance model and communication inequality

ABSTRACT

While health apps and wearables are often touted to promote individuals’ physical and mental health, a fundamental question that remains unanswered is how individuals from low socioeconomic status (SES) groups benefit from using these digital health technologies. This study draws upon two theoretical frameworks – an extended technology acceptance model and communication inequality to answer this research question. A nationally representative sample of 906 Singaporeans was administered, and data were analysed using hierarchical multiple regression. First, the results showed that factors at both the technological- (e.g. perceived usefulness and design aesthetics) and societal-level (e.g. descriptive and injunctive norms) contributed to closing the gap in health apps and wearables use between higher and lower SES groups. Second, using health apps and wearables was positively associated with physical and mental health and they can also bridge gaps in social well-being between the higher and lower SES groups; Third, the use of health apps and wearables was driven by multifaceted factors across technological-, individual-, and societal-levels, with hedonic motivation having the strongest positive association with both intention and actual use. Finally, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Health apps
• health wearables
• technology acceptance model
• communication inequality
• health disparities

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the participants who participated in our online survey during COVID-19 as their information provided valuable data for the study.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. We confirm that this manuscript is not under review elsewhere, involves no conflict of interest, involves data that were collected ethically and involves no prior or duplicate publication. We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval information

The Institutional Review Board (IRB-2021-262) of the Nanyang Technological University approved the questionnaire and procedures.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Nanyang Technological University [grant number Start Up Grant: 020154-00001].