Exploring cognitive-behavioral drivers impacting consumer continuance intention of fitness apps using a hybrid approach of text mining, SEM, and ANN

Abstract

Amidst the digital revolution, consumer wellness services have been transformed by the proliferation of health and fitness apps (HFAs). Leveraging the information systems continuance theory, this research investigates three primary cognitive and behavioral drivers involving satisfaction, attitude, and habit that impact continuance intention. It also examines the underlying antecedents of these drivers. The investigation into what shapes users' attitudes incorporates elements from the health belief model and the dual passion theory. Additionally, to determine what drives user satisfaction, the study analyzes online consumer reviews through structural topic modeling. This study utilizes a combination of topic modeling, PLS-SEM, and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) analysis for development and validation of conceptual model. After conducting a survey and analyzing 367 responses via PLS-SEM, the findings indicated that harmonious passion, health consciousness, and perceived disease threat greatly influenced users' attitudes toward these apps. The results emphasized satisfaction, attitude, and habit formation as crucial determinants of continued app use. An additional key contribution to the literature was the exploration of habit as a partial mediator between attitude and satisfaction in determining continued app usage, which has remained unexplored in the HFAs context. A comparison of results between the PLS-SEM and ANN analysis showed that there is a mismatch in the rankings of security and customization on satisfaction. This implies that there are possibly hidden factors that could affect security and customization differently in real-world settings. The study concludes by offering practical recommendations for managers of HFAs to enhance consumer service experiences and drive continuance intention.