Investigating the Key Persuasive Features for Fitness App Design and Extending the Persuasive System Design Model: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Physical inactivity has been recognized as one of the leading risk factors that account for many non-communicable diseases, with the World Health Organization labeling it as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. This has led researchers and developers to create fitness apps to support and motivate people to engage in physical activity more regularly. However, there is limited research on how collectivist and individualist users from different social and cultural backgrounds differ in terms of the persuasive features they care about in fitness apps. Having knowledge of the cultural differences will help designers and developers create better fitness apps tailored to the two main types of culture. Hence, we conducted an empirical study to uncover how both cultures differ and the possibility of extending the Persuasive System Design (PSD) model. We found that Primary Task Support (Self-Monitoring and Goal-Setting) is requested more by the individualist group than the collectivist group. On the other hand, Dialog Support (Reminder and Suggestion) is requested more by the collectivist group than the individualist group. Finally, we found that the PSD model can be extended with Goal-Setting and Verbal Persuasion for fitness app design.