The Influence of Social Media on the adoption and continuous use of health fitness mobile apps during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background:During the COVID – 19 pandemic, health management is of utmost important in order to ensure a better quality of life for every individual. With this being said, it is imperative to explore the ways and means to enhance the immune system of individuals through the adoptionand use of health fitness apps used for improving the quality of life of individuals and health fitness mobile (HFM) application developers.
Aim:This study aimed to explore the users‟ perception of social media influence on various factors, including the adoption and continuous use of HFM apps.
Methods:This study utilized a quantitative research design, usingstructured questionnaires which were distributed amongst all the health app users located in four-tier 1 cities in India namely Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to analyze the measurement model. A path analysis was conducted to examine the conceptual model of the research.
Results: The results of the analysis indicatedthat social media hasa significant influence on perceived usefulness, trust, and ease of use, and these factors also have a significant positive impact on the adoption of HFM apps. The adoption of HFM apps also has a significant positive impact on satisfaction and it also hasa significant positive effect on the continuous use of HFM applications.
Conclusions: Based on the results of this research, it has been found that health app developers are expected to focus on perceived usefulness, perceived trust, and perceived ease of use during the design, and development of their fitness apps, and also during the promotion of the apps on social media networking sites. The HFM app developers should also focus on the usefulness of the apps, in accordance with the expectations of the intended users as this directly impacts the adoption of the health fitness mobile apps by the users. Similarly, the reviews/ comments/ feedback shared by the current users on social media networks has a significant impact on the perceived usefulness for potential users. Therefore, negative comments or reviews shared on social media should be immediately addressed by the HFM app developers with appropriate updates/versions/features and this should be reported on social media, in order to enhance perceived usefulness, and trust among the intended users. However, satisfied users are loyal users, hence they would be more inclined to use the HFM apps continuously. Therefore, understanding the users‟ requirements and making appropriate modifications promptly will enable the app developers to retain their users.