Mobile apps for healthy living: Factors influencing continuance intention for health apps

The desire to maintain a healthy lifestyle is growing amongst consumers globally as well as the adoption of health apps. Prior research investigates what affects adoption of a health app, but few studies consider Continuance Intention (CI) for mobile health apps. Drawing on the Information Systems Continuance Model and integrating social (i.e. subjective norms) and psychological factors (i.e. flow experience, health consciousness, behavioral change techniques), we develop a framework testing the factors influencing users’ CI for health apps. The model is validated using PLS analysis and data from 397 health app users from China. The study finds that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, flow experience and behavioral change techniques are significant predictors of CI, and satisfaction mediates these effects. Health consciousness positively moderates the effect between perceived usefulness and satisfaction and negatively moderates the effect between perceived ease of use and satisfaction. Lessons for app developers, marketers and health practitioners are drawn.