Assessing individuals’ attitude and behavioural intention to use dietary and fitness mobile applications: evidence from India

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the determinants of individuals’ attitude (ATT) and behavioural intention (BI) to use dietary and fitness mobile apps in the context of India. Design/methodology/approach The present study develops a conceptual model by incorporating additional variables such as health consciousness (HC), perceived trust (PT), social influence (SI) and personal innovativeness (PI) into the original technology acceptance model (TAM). These constructs were extracted from existing theories and literature on technology adoption, individuals’ health beliefs and personality traits. The conceptual model has been empirically tested and validated by applying structural equation modelling using STATA version 15. The data was collected from both potential and actual users of dietary and fitness mobile apps through a structured questionnaire, both online and manually. Following a convenience sampling approach, a total of 450 respondents from Delhi national capital region (NCR) were contacted, of which 264 valid responses were considered for final analysis. Findings The results revealed that of all the factors predicting individuals’ “attitude” towards the use of dietary and fitness apps, perceived usefulness was found to be the most significant followed by PI and PT. Similarly, behavioural “intention to use” was most strongly determined by an individual’s attitude towards the usage of dietary and fitness apps followed by SI. Practical implications Findings of the study offer meaningful insights and implications for academics and practitioners. Mobile app developers and service providers can gain an understanding of the consumer’s behaviour towards adoption of dietary and fitness apps and improve the app’s utility, service quality, interface and features in view of the empirically validated determinants of such behaviour. Furthermore, it is essential for the service providers to undertake promotional efforts to not only create awareness of the availability of such apps but also at the same time educate people on the needs, functionalities and utilities they offer. Also, to gain a wider acceptance of the apps, focus on more communication and gamification/ entertainment features is required. Originality/value This study adds value by identifying the factors from varied perspectives (technical, social, health and personal) impacting individuals’ attitude and BI to use an innovative health intervention i.e. dietary and fitness mobile apps in a developing economy. Furthermore, the study proved the robustness of extended TAM in the area of healthcare. Lastly, this paper is among the few papers in the Indian context that assessed the adoption of dietary and fitness mobile apps.