IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i16p9043-d613255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the Antecedents of University Students’ Usage Behaviour of Fitness Apps

Author

Listed:
  • Jo-Hung Yu

    (Department of Marine Leisure Management, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 811213, Taiwan)

  • Gordon Chih-Ming Ku

    (Department of Sport Management, National Taiwan University of Sport, Taichung 404401, Taiwan)

  • Yu-Chih Lo

    (Department of Leisure Industry Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411030, Taiwan)

  • Che-Hsiu Chen

    (Department of Sports Performance, National Taiwan University of Sport, Taichung 404401, Taiwan)

  • Chin-Hsien Hsu

    (Department of Leisure Industry Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411030, Taiwan)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore the antecedents of university students’ fitness application usage behaviours by combining the theory of planned behaviour and the technology acceptance model. An anonymous questionnaire survey was adopted to address the objectives of the study. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to select eligible students from six universities in Zhanjiang City. An online survey was used to collect data from 634 eligible subjects, and partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the collected data. The results indicated that the students’ perceived usefulness ( β = 0.17, p < 0.05) and perceived ease of use ( β = 0.32, p < 0.05) concerning the application and their attitude ( β = 0.31, p < 0.05) toward it significantly influenced their usage intentions. Furthermore, perceived usefulness ( β = 0.11, p < 0.05) and perceived ease of use ( β = 0.38, p < 0.05) fully mediated the relationship between subjective norms and usage intentions. However, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control did not enhance the students’ intentions to use fitness applications. That is, students’ attitudes and fitness application design are the determinants of usage intention. Accordingly, improving students’ fitness applications usage intention requires strategies that involve customised services, social networking, and collaboration with schools; this would further increase students’ engagement in physical exercise.

Suggested Citation

  • Jo-Hung Yu & Gordon Chih-Ming Ku & Yu-Chih Lo & Che-Hsiu Chen & Chin-Hsien Hsu, 2021. "Identifying the Antecedents of University Students’ Usage Behaviour of Fitness Apps," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-13, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9043-:d:613255
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9043/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9043/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kamrath, Carolin & Rajendran, Srinivasulu & Nenguwo, Ngoni & Afari-Sefa, Victor & Broring, Stefanie, 2018. "Adoption behavior of market traders: an analysis based on Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(6), July.
    2. Hyun Byun & Weisheng Chiu & Jung-sup Bae, 2018. "Exploring the Adoption of Sports Brand Apps: An Application of the Modified Technology Acceptance Model," International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IJABIM), IGI Global, vol. 9(1), pages 52-65, January.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Fred D. Davis & Richard P. Bagozzi & Paul R. Warshaw, 1989. "User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(8), pages 982-1003, August.
    5. Shahriar Akter & John D'Ambra & Pradeep Ray, 2011. "Trustworthiness in mHealth information services: An assessment of a hierarchical model with mediating and moderating effects using partial least squares (PLS)," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(1), pages 100-116, January.
    6. Yang, Kiseol, 2012. "Consumer technology traits in determining mobile shopping adoption: An application of the extended theory of planned behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 484-491.
    7. Seif Obeid Al-Shbiel & Muhannad Akram Ahmad, 2016. "A Theoretical Discussion of Electronic Banking in Jordan by Integrating Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(3), pages 272-284, July.
    8. Viswanath Venkatesh & Fred D. Davis, 2000. "A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 186-204, February.
    9. Masood Ul Hassan & Asghar Iqbal & Zeeshan Iqbal, 2018. "Factors affecting the adoption of internet banking in Pakistan: an integration of technology acceptance model and theory of planned behaviour," International Journal of Business Information Systems, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 28(3), pages 342-370.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chakraborty, Debarun & Singu, Hari Babu & Patre, Smruti, 2022. "Fitness Apps's purchase behaviour: Amalgamation of Stimulus-Organism-Behaviour-Consequence framework (S–O–B–C) and the innovation resistance theory (IRT)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Debora Bettiga & Lucio Lamberti & Emanuele Lettieri, 2020. "Individuals’ adoption of smart technologies for preventive health care: a structural equation modeling approach," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 203-214, June.
    2. Paul Juinn Bing Tan, 2013. "Applying the UTAUT to Understand Factors Affecting the Use of English E-Learning Websites in Taiwan," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, October.
    3. Mäntymäki, Matti & Salo, Jari, 2013. "Purchasing behavior in social virtual worlds: An examination of Habbo Hotel," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 282-290.
    4. Joan Torrent-Sellens & Cristian Salazar-Concha & Pilar Ficapal-Cusí & Francesc Saigí-Rubió, 2021. "Using Digital Platforms to Promote Blood Donation: Motivational and Preliminary Evidence from Latin America and Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Garima Malik & A. Sajeevan Rao, 2019. "Extended expectation-confirmation model to predict continued usage of ODR/ride hailing apps: role of perceived value and self-efficacy," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 461-482, December.
    6. Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Scott, Stephanie & Hughes, Paul & Hodgkinson, Ian & Kraus, Sascha, 2019. "Technology adoption factors in the digitization of popular culture: Analyzing the online gambling market," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    8. Salvador Angosto & Jerónimo García-Fernández & Irena Valantine & Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana, 2020. "The Intention to Use Fitness and Physical Activity Apps: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    9. Herman Fassou Haba & Omkar Dastane, 2018. "An Empirical Investigation on Taxi Hailing Mobile App Adoption: A Structural Equation Modelling," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 48-72, December.
    10. Sanjeev Verma, 2015. "Harnessing the Benefit of Social Networking Sites for Intentional Social Action: Determinants and Challenges," Vision, , vol. 19(2), pages 104-111, June.
    11. Sarv Devaraj & Ming Fan & Rajiv Kohli, 2002. "Antecedents of B2C Channel Satisfaction and Preference: Validating e-Commerce Metrics," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 316-333, September.
    12. Muhammad Ali & Syed Ali Raza & Chin-Hong Puah & Mohd Zaini Abd Karim, 2017. "Islamic home financing in Pakistan: a SEM-based approach using modified TPB model," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(8), pages 1156-1177, November.
    13. Abou-Shouk, Mohamed A. & Lim, Wai Mun & Megicks, Phil, 2016. "Using competing models to evaluate the role of environmental pressures in ecommerce adoption by small and medium sized travel agents in a developing country," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 327-339.
    14. Rahman Ummeh Habiba Faria Benteh & Zafar Muhammad Khubaib, 2020. "Factors Influencing Uber Adoption In Bangladesh And Pakistan," Open Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 86-97, January.
    15. Al-Qeisi, Kholoud & Dennis, Charles & Alamanos, Eleftherios & Jayawardhena, Chanaka, 2014. "Website design quality and usage behavior: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2282-2290.
    16. Chua Chang Jin & Lim Chee Seong & Aye Aye Khin, 2019. "Factors Affecting the Consumer Acceptance towards Fintech Products and Services in Malaysia," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(1), pages 59-65, January.
    17. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2006_032 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Yang, Byunghwa & Kim, Youngchan & Yoo, Changjo, 2013. "The integrated mobile advertising model: The effects of technology- and emotion-based evaluations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1345-1352.
    19. Hongping Yuan & Yu Yang & Xiaolong Xue, 2019. "Promoting Owners’ BIM Adoption Behaviors to Achieve Sustainable Project Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-18, July.
    20. McLean, Graeme & Osei-Frimpong, Kofi & Al-Nabhani, Khalid & Marriott, Hannah, 2020. "Examining consumer attitudes towards retailers' m-commerce mobile applications – An initial adoption vs. continuous use perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 139-157.
    21. Ivonne Angelica Castiblanco Jimenez & Laura Cristina Cepeda García & Maria Grazia Violante & Federica Marcolin & Enrico Vezzetti, 2020. "Commonly Used External TAM Variables in e-Learning, Agriculture and Virtual Reality Applications," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9043-:d:613255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.