Continued Intention of mHealth Care Applications among the Elderly: An Enabler and Inhibitor Perspective

AbstractOptimal healthcare provision for the elderly is increasingly possible via real-time health indicators' data generated by mHealth care applications. Yet, these apps require continuous utilization, which remains problematic. This research examines gamification, usability, as well as empathetic cooperation and social interaction (ESCI) as enablers whereas inertia, sunk cost, transition cost, perceived risk, and technological anxiety are validated as inhibitors of mHealth care applications continued usage intention. Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT) and the Health IT Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM), the study also validates engagement as an influencer of continued intention. The sample comprised 643 older adults using mHealth care applications and residing in North Indian states. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was applied to assess and validate the hypothesized relationships. The results confirmed that usability strongly impacted engagement, followed by gamification and ESCI. Conversely, perceived risk emerged as the strongest inhibitor, followed by sunk cost, technological anxiety, and transition cost. Interestingly, Inertia had a positive and significant impact on engagement. This research is an initial endeavor to understand enablers and inhibitors of mHealth care applications (mHealth care apps) concerning older adults. The model that emerged from this study would provide valuable insights by validating various significant issues to generate engagement of the elderly towards mHealth care apps.Keywords: Gamificationusabilityempathetic cooperation and social interactionmHealth applicationinertiasunk costtransition costperceived riskHealth-ITUEMself-determination theor Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsUrvashi TandonUrvashi Tandon is an Associate Professor Chitkara University, Punjab (India). Her research interests include e-Commerce, Online shopping and Supply Chain practices of online retailers. She is also a reviewer in various journals. Her research has also been published in several prestigious journals of human-computer interaction.Myriam ErtzMyriam Ertz is Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, director of LaboNFC, Chair of Technology-Sustainability-Society, and recipient of the Social Sciences 2020 Young Investigator Award. She has published over 90 papers, and edited the "Handbook of research on the platform economy and the evolution of e-commerce". ShashiShashi is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Management Sirmaur, India. He has published several refereed papers in leading journals such as Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, International Journal of Production Economics, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change, etc.