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ABSTRACT
Although several theories could be applied to stimulate mobile health (mHealth) use and change people’s health behaviors, theory-driven mHealth designs are scarce. Instead, developers and researchers often implement behavior change techniques and mix multiple techniques without explicitly considering their underlying theoretical mechanisms. We call this practice into question and propose that combining behavior change techniques does not necessarily result in synergistic effects. Drawing on theories of protection motivation and social upward comparison, we engage in explanatory design theorizing to understand interactions of behavior change techniques and their implications for mHealth design. We design, theorize about, and evaluate four mHealth prototypes for stress alleviation. In a five-week field experiment with n = 138 participants and a subsequent qualitative substantiation, we show that there is a negative interaction effect of protection motivation and social upward comparison, rendering their combined application less effective. Our findings elicit mutual boundary conditions for theories of protection motivation and social upward comparison. If mechanisms of one theory are present, they restrict the effectiveness of mechanisms of the other theory. Thus, mHealth developers need to use caution when combining different behavior change techniques within one mHealth artifact.
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Notes
1. 7-point scale (strongly disagree—strongly agree).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kai Spohrer
Kai Spohrer is an Assistant Professor at the Department of General Management and Information Systems of the University of Mannheim, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in Information Systems from that university. Dr. Spohrer’s research aims to understand and improve the development and use of information systems, especially in the domains of health IT, blockchain systems, and software engineering. His papers have appeared or are forthcoming in Information Systems Research, IEEE Transactions of Software Engineering, Information Systems Journal, and other venues.
Monica Fallon
Monica Fallon received her M.A. in Psychology from the University of Arizona. She is a doctoral student at the Department of General Management and Information Systems at the University of Mannheim. Her research has appeared in major international Information Systems conferences and in the leading Psychology journals. Her research focuses on how digital technologies can be used to support health behavior change and to better understand acute stress responses.
Hartmut Hoehle
Hartmut Hoehle is a Professor and Chair of Enterprise Systems at the University of Mannheim, Germany. He received a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Dr. Hoehle’s research interests include the design, implementation, and use of enterprise systems.. Stemming from his professional experiences gained while working at Deutsche Bank, he is particularly interested in how services and products can be distributed through electronically mediated channels. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in MIS Quarterly, European Journal of Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, and other journals.
Armin Heinzl
Armin Heinzl is a Professor and Chair of General Management and Information Systems at the University of Mannheim, Germany. He received his doctoral degree and habilitation from the Koblenz Corporate School of Management, Germany. He was a professor at the University of Bayreuth and has held visiting positions at Harvard, Berkeley, Irvine, ESSEC, LSE, and USI Lugano. Dr. Heinzl’s research interests focus on digital innovation, particularly the design of mHealth applications, the design of anthropomorphic systems, agile development practices, the impact of artificial intelligence, innovation strategies in digital platforms, and the management of digital innovations. His research has appeared in MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of the Association of Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, and other journals.