Using smart and connected health services to cope with pandemics: The interaction effects of event and coping appraisals

Pandemics like COVID-19 disrupt conventional healthcare services, pushing toward smart and connected health solutions including mobile healthcare applications. However, the dynamics of disruptive events influencing smart health service adoption are not well-understood. By incorporating the concept of event disruption into cognitive appraisal theory, this paper develops a research model on how individuals’ event appraisals (event disruption and event threat) interact with coping appraisals (response efficacy and self-efficacy) of smart and connected health services in driving their future usage of smart and connected health services as a coping method. We tested the model using a mixed-methods approach with quantitative and qualitative data. First, we conducted an online survey to collect quantitative data from individuals with experience in using smart and connected health services. The results showed that the moderating effect of the cognitive appraisals of an external event stimulated the usage of smart and connected health services. We then collected archival qualitative data via multiple social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic to cross-validate the results of the quantitative study. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.