Testing the Acceptance Model of Mobile Fitness Applications with an Emphasis on Psychological Predictors

The purpose of this study was to test the acceptance model of mobile fitness applications, emphasizing psychological predictors. This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of its nature and data collection method. The statistical population included users of fitness applications in Iran. Data were collected from 373 of these individuals using the convenience sampling method. To measure the research variables, standard questionnaires of the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), Personal Innovativeness (Goldsmith & Hofacker, 1991), Subjective Knowledge (Flynn & Goldsmith, 1999), and Health Consciousness (Hong, 2009) were used, and their validity and reliability were confirmed through factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to evaluate the model. The findings showed that subjective knowledge and personal innovativeness are useful predictors for "perceived usefulness," "health consciousness," and "perceived ease of use." "Perceived ease of use" was identified as the strongest direct predictor of intention to use (β =0.418) and also fully mediates the effect of subjective knowledge and innovativeness on intention to use. "Health consciousness" also predicted the intention to use fitness applications (β =0.287); however, the direct effects of innovativeness and perceived usefulness on behavioral intention were not significant. Therefore, application developers should focus on these factors and improve the user experience to increase the rate and duration of application use.