IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v34y2023i1p50-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Self-Regulation and External Influence: The Relative Efficacy of Mobile Apps and Offline Channels for Personal Weight Management

Author

Listed:
  • Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon

    (Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798)

  • Sanjeev Dewan

    (The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, California 92697)

  • Wonseok Oh

    (College of Business, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 02455, Korea)

  • Taekyung Kim

    (Department of Business Administration, Kwangwoon University, Seoul 01897, Korea)

Abstract

This study contributes to the information systems literature on mobile health interventions and omnichannel management by examining the relative effectiveness of mobile and offline channels in facilitating personal weight management. Drawing on the social cognitive theory of self-regulation, our empirical analysis utilizes a system generalized method of moments approach applied to panel data on customers enrolled in a weight loss program that delivers services through multiple channels, including a mobile app and offline office visits. Our results show that the use of the mobile app is positively associated with weight management by both free and paid users. For paid users, who have access to the mobile app and office visits, usage of both channels is associated with increased short-term weight loss. Furthermore, the two channels function as substitutes for one another, with users able to compensate for infrequent offline store visits through more intense mobile app usage. In the long term, however, only mobile app usage (and not offline store visits) contributes to the sustainability of weight loss, as reflected in reduced weight variability and lower overall failure rate. Qualitative evidence gleaned from interviews with actual customers substantiated the self-regulation mechanism enabled by mobile app usage. Additional empirical analyses further revealed that frequency and granularity of mobile app usage are positively associated with weight loss. We also found that individuals exposed to low performance pressure benefit more fully from mobile app usage. The results are robust to endogeneity concerns and alternative measures of the key variables. Overall, our analysis sheds light on the important role of a self-regulatory mobile app in a multichannel setting of personal weight management, as compared with the external influence stemming from human experts in offline channels, with useful implications for research and practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon & Sanjeev Dewan & Wonseok Oh & Taekyung Kim, 2023. "Self-Regulation and External Influence: The Relative Efficacy of Mobile Apps and Offline Channels for Personal Weight Management," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 50-66, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:50-66
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2022.1144
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1144
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.2022.1144?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lu (Lucy) Yan, 2018. "Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes: The Effects of Mismatches between Social Support and Health Outcomes in an Online Weight Loss Community," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(1), pages 9-27, January.
    2. Shiri Melumad & Michel Tuan Pham & Darren W Dahl & Amna Kirmani & Peter R Darke, 2020. "The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology [Diagnostic Instruments for Behavioural Addiction: An Overview]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 237-255.
    3. Mi Zhou & Dan Geng & Vibhanshu Abhishek & Beibei Li, 2020. "When the Bank Comes to You: Branch Network and Customer Omnichannel Banking Behavior," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 176-197, March.
    4. Anindya Ghose & Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon & Dongwon Lee & Wonseok Oh, 2019. "Seizing the Commuting Moment: Contextual Targeting Based on Mobile Transportation Apps," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 154-174, March.
    5. Yao Zhang & Eric T. Bradlow & Dylan S. Small, 2015. "Predicting Customer Value Using Clumpiness: From RFM to RFMC," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 195-208, March.
    6. Ritu Agarwal & Guodong (Gordon) Gao & Catherine DesRoches & Ashish K. Jha, 2010. "Research Commentary ---The Digital Transformation of Healthcare: Current Status and the Road Ahead," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 796-809, December.
    7. Bandura, Albert, 1991. "Social cognitive theory of self-regulation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 248-287, December.
    8. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    9. Liuan Wang & Lu (Lucy) Yan & Tongxin Zhou & Xitong Guo & Gregory R. Heim, 2020. "Understanding Physicians’ Online-Offline Behavior Dynamics: An Empirical Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 537-555, June.
    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. KyungPyo Kang & JaeHong Park, 2024. "Dual verifications in mHealth apps: Supporting self-regulation or increasing friction?," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 34(1), pages 1-18, December.

    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. Tongxin Zhou & Lu (Lucy) Yan & Yingfei Wang & Yong Tan, 2022. "Turn Your Online Weight Management from Zero to Hero: A Multidimensional, Continuous-Time Evaluation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(5), pages 3507-3527, May.
    2. Ni Huang & Zhijun Yan & Haonan Yin, 2021. "Effects of Online–Offline Service Integration on e‐Healthcare Providers: A Quasi‐Natural Experiment," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(8), pages 2359-2378, August.
    3. Xi Wang & Zhiya Zuo & Xing Tong & Yushan Zhu, 2024. "Talk more about yourself: a data-driven extended theory of reasoned action for online health communities," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 233-246, September.
    4. Behnaz Bojd & Xiaolong Song & Yong Tan & Xiangbin Yan, 2022. "Gamified Challenges in Online Weight-Loss Communities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 718-736, June.
    5. Tongxin Zhou & Yingfei Wang & Lu (Lucy) Yan & Yong Tan, 2023. "Spoiled for Choice? Personalized Recommendation for Healthcare Decisions: A Multiarmed Bandit Approach," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 1493-1512, December.
    6. Torsten Oliver Salge & David Antons & Michael Barrett & Rajiv Kohli & Eivor Oborn & Stavros Polykarpou, 2022. "How IT Investments Help Hospitals Gain and Sustain Reputation in the Media: The Role of Signaling and Framing," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 110-130, March.
    7. Daniel Ştefan Armeanu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2017. "Empirical Study towards the Drivers of Sustainable Economic Growth in EU-28 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, December.
    8. Youngho Kang & Byung-Yeon Kim, 2018. "Immigration and economic growth: do origin and destination matter?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(46), pages 4968-4984, October.
    9. Alcaraz, Carlo & Villalvazo, Sergio, 2017. "The effect of natural gas shortages on the Mexican economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 147-153.
    10. Thorsten Lehnert, 2019. "Asset pricing implications of good governance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, April.
    11. Cho, Seo-young & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2010. "Compliance for big brothers: An empirical analysis on the impact of the anti-trafficking protocol," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 118, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    12. Katsushi S. Imai & Raghav Gaiha & Ganesh Thapa & Samuel Kobina Annim, 2013. "Financial Crisis In Asia: Its Genesis, Severity And Impact On Poverty And Hunger," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(8), pages 1105-1116, November.
    13. Marco Botta & Luca Colombo, 2016. "Macroeconomic and Institutional Determinants of Capital Structure Decisions," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def038, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    14. Arturas Juodis, 2013. "Cointegration Testing in Panel VAR Models Under Partial Identification and Spatial Dependence," UvA-Econometrics Working Papers 13-08, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Dept. of Econometrics.
    15. Vieira, Flávio & MacDonald, Ronald & Damasceno, Aderbal, 2012. "The role of institutions in cross-section income and panel data growth models: A deeper investigation on the weakness and proliferation of instruments," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 127-140.
    16. Chen, Ting-Hsuan & Shen, Chung-Hua & Wu, Meng-Wen & Huang, Kuo-Jui, 2021. "Effect of shadow banking on the relation between capital and liquidity creation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 166-184.
    17. März, Armin & Lachner, Michael & Heumann, Christian G. & Schumann, Jan H. & von Wangenheim, Florian, 2021. "How You Remind Me! The Influence of Mobile Push Notifications on Success Rates in Last-Minute Bidding," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 11-24.
    18. Hakkala, Katariina & Heyman, Fredrik & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2007. "Cross-Border Acquisitions, Multinationals and Wage Elasticities," Working Paper Series 709, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    19. Lu, Yao & Zhan, Shuwei & Zhan, Minghua, 2024. "Has FinTech changed the sensitivity of corporate investment to interest rates?—Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    20. Ensar Yılmaz & Zeynep Kaplan, 2022. "Heterogeneity of market power: firm-level evidence," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 1207-1228, May.

    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:inm:orisre:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:50-66. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.