Exploring engagement with health apps: the emerging importance of situational involvement and individual characteristics

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dc.contributor.authorFlaherty, Sarah Jane
dc.contributor.authorMcCarthy, Mary
dc.contributor.authorCollins, Alan M.
dc.contributor.authorMcCafferty, Claire
dc.contributor.authorMcAuliffe, Fionnuala M.
dc.date.accessioned2021-06-24T12:26:53Z
dc.date.available2021-06-24T12:26:53Z
dc.date.issued2021-05-06
dc.date.updated2021-06-24T12:19:39Z
dc.description.abstractPurpose: Health apps offer a potential approach to support healthier food behaviours but a lack of sufficient engagement may limit effectiveness. This study aims to use a user engagement theoretical lens to examine the factors that influence app engagement over time and may prompt disengagement. Design/methodology/approach: A phenomenological exploration of the lived experience was used. Women from a lower socioeconomic background (based on the occupation and employment status of the household’s primary income earner) were randomly assigned to use one of two apps for a minimum of eight weeks. Multiple data collection methods, including accompanied shops, researcher observations, interviews, participant reflective accounts and questionnaires, were used at different time-points to examine engagement. Theoretical thematic analysis was conducted to explore the engagement experience and relevant social, personal and environmental influences. Findings: Healthy food involvement appears to drive app engagement. Changes in situational involvement may contribute to fluctuation in engagement intensity over time as the saliency of personal goals change. Negatively valenced engagement dimensions may contribute to the overall expression of engagement. A lack of congruency with personal goals or an imbalance between perceived personal investment and value was expressed as the primary reasons for disengagement. Research limitations/implications: Situational involvement may act as a trigger of different engagement phases. There is a need to better distinguish between enduring and situational involvement in engagement research. Practical implications: Individual characteristics may shape engagement and propensity for disengagement, which highlights the practical importance of incorporating tailored features into app design. Originality/value: Findings broaden the current conceptualisation of engagement within the digital space and prompt a reconsideration of the role of situational involvement and negatively valenced dimensions throughout the engagement process.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationFlaherty, S. J., McCarthy, M., Collins, A. M., McCafferty, C. and McAuliffe, F. M. (2021) 'Exploring engagement with health apps: the emerging importance of situational involvement and individual characteristics', European Journal of Marketing, 55(13), pp. 122-147. doi: 10.1108/EJM-06-2019-0531en
dc.identifier.doi10.1108/EJM-06-2019-0531en
dc.identifier.endpage147en
dc.identifier.issn0309-0566
dc.identifier.issued13en
dc.identifier.journaltitleEuropean Journal of Marketingen
dc.identifier.startpage122en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/11486
dc.identifier.volume55en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherEmeralden
dc.relation.urihttps://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/EJM-06-2019-0531
dc.rights© 2021, Sarah Jane Flaherty, Mary McCarthy and Alan M. Collins, Claire McCafferty and Fionnuala M. McAuliffe. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodeen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodeen
dc.subjectAppen
dc.subjectFood purchasingen
dc.subjectHealthy eatingen
dc.subjectInvolvementen
dc.subjectUser engagementen
dc.titleExploring engagement with health apps: the emerging importance of situational involvement and individual characteristicsen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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