Exploring User Acceptance of a Text-message Base Health Intervention among Young African Americans

Abstract

Information technology has been used in diverse ways. It has been used in both the public and private sectors to reduce costs and increase satisfaction. Technology may also be instrumental in improving individuals' healthy behaviors. For instance, statistics suggest that technology-based interventions may promote healthy sexual behaviors; however, few studies have explored willingness to participate in technology-mediated interventions. In this study, we use the diffusion of innovation theory to identify factors that influence one's intention to use a text-message service to receive sexual health information. The results indicate that technology diffusion factors rather than risk beliefs and privacy concerns impacted participant's intention to use a text-message intervention. The findings of this study have significant implications for innovative uses of technology to promote health. Mobile-health interventions that are easy to use and that provide more benefits than other interventions are most likely to be adopted. However, these interventions should seek to maximize privacy protections and communicate clearly about these protections.