Understanding The Adoption Of Fitness Applications In China

Understanding the adoption of fitness applications is a complex process as it is closely linked with people's health behaviors and under the influence of manifold of influential forces.This research is focusing on the social perspective on motivation while not neglecting an adoption driven by the need that is concentrated on the mere functionality of an app.The main objective of the research is to discover the underlying social motivation and propensity of users to adopt fitness applications in China.The central question is whether the willingness to adopt a fitness app is being influenced solely by the need to track one's activities with the help of a tool or if social motivation is playing an essential role in influencing a person's inclination to adopt this kind of applications.The problem this thesis is trying to understand better is the propensity of people in the initial adoption phase of a fitness application.So,it can be said that the scope of the study is narrowing down the general idea of health to the specific scenario of fitness applications.The main idea and assumption is that social motivation in the adoption of fitness apps is playing the essential role and has to be given great consideration by marketers and businesses.The findings can be adapted to business practices and marketing efforts.The 532 answers gathered in the survey have been looked at from an approach that stays close to the theories leveraged in the development of the variables as well as a model-approach that constructed the possible relationship between the variables.The variables constructed are based on the theories of the lazy user(Need N),social status(SS),social influence(SIN)as well as social impact(SIM).Need N is trying to minimize efforts in an adoption process in order to gain the required functions of an application.Following social status(SS)as a motivator,a person is intrinsically motivated to pursue a goal-directed behavior,in this case,the adoption of a fitness application,in order to adjust,maintain or obtain a perceived social status by others.On the other hand,social influence(SIN)focuses on the external influential stimulus that is being exerted on the individual and can be separated into the two modes of identification and internalization.Social Impact(SIM)is also looking at the extrinsic social motivation but from another perspective than social influence.It provides us with a meta-framework to measure all influential forces in the outside field within a person's social radius.Social Impact consists of the strength,immediacy,and number of an influencer.All variables are based on an in-depth understanding of the available research that has been comprehensively analyzed in the literature review section of the thesis.Furthermore,a full understanding of what health and fitness are from an academic point of view as well as how fitness applications can be classified and are present in the Chinese market has been gained in that section.In the model,the dependent variable is the willingness to adopt a fitness application.This variable is dependent on either the mere need for a tool that is helping people to work out or social motivation.Social motivation is constructed from an internal and external perspective and is being called the social status model.Social status in the model is being dependent on social influence and social impact.The hypotheses of the research are the following:1)Social Influence SIN is correlated with Social Status.2)Social Impact SIM is correlated with Social Status.3)More social motivation is leading to more willingness to adopt.4)More Need N is leading to more willingness to adopt.The results of the survey have been looked at from the two different perspectives described above: a model-free approach that is staying close to the theories as well as the model results based on the regression.The relationships between variables postulated in hypothesis 1,2 and 3 have been proven to be significant,only H4 had to be rejected.This means need plays a rather insignificant role in the adoption of fitness applications.Based on the results,concluding managerial implications have been drawn.The results also raise the question if the health approach as it is constituted nowadays in China is of sustainable nature or if it is solely focused on a superficial understanding as the results would suggest.