Why Do Users Discontinue and Delete Health-Related Mobile Applications? A Survey of Mobile App Users

Topic

The adoption and use of health-related mobile apps have seen substantial growth as users place increasing importance on their personal well-being and healthy lifestyles. While some of these health-related mobile apps have gained widespread adoption and continued usage, others fail to sustain user engagement and are often discontinued shortly after installation. This research aims to identify the factors influencing users’ behavior in discontinuing the use of health-related mobile apps using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) approach. The TAM constructs used are perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived risk, and social influence.

Relevance

By understanding the factors that influence users’ decisions to discontinue using these apps, the study proposes collaborative efforts among app developers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and businesses to address users’ concerns and improve app design and functionality to ultimately improve users’ experience. This study provides insights and recommendations to improve the overall service quality of health-related mobile applications, increase users’ willingness to continue using them and promote the sustainable development of health-related application businesses. This can help increase user engagement, sustain app use, and improve outcomes.

Results

The regression coefficient results indicate that the influence of perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and perceived risk on the predictive probability of the outcome variable is consistent with the expected direction of the theoretical hypothesis. However, these factors do not exert a significant influence on the intention to use the apps. On the other hand, social influence demonstrates a positive and significant influence on the intention to discontinue the use of health-related mobile applications. The moderating effects of sociodemographic variables such as age, gender, and education level also provide evidence supporting the model. Overall, the results validate the proposed hypothesis and model.

Implications for practitioners

· Understanding user behavior: By gaining insights into user behavior, practitioners can make informed decisions, develop effective strategies to meet users’ evolving needs, and foster user retention.

· Improving user experience: Actively seeking users’ feedback allows for continuous improvement based on their needs and expectations.

· Mitigating perceived risks: Recognizing that risk plays a significant role in driving discontinuation behavior, it is critical to address and minimize perceived risks to encourage user retention.

· Leverage social influences: Acknowledging the impact of social influence on a user’s decision to discontinue, practitioners can capitalize on it by leveraging social influence to positively impact attitudes and behaviors.

Method

The study used an online questionnaire distributed to health-related mobile app users from April to June 2023. Survey participants consisted of both current users and those who discontinued app use within the past 12 months. Of the 117 samples collected, 93 valid responses were obtained after eliminating invalid responses, yielding a validity rate of 79.5%. A binary regression (probit model) was used to examine the influence of independent variables (TAM constructs) on the dependent variable (intention to discontinue app use). Finally, survey data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 28.0 software.