Oh, Won’t You Stay with Me? A Literature Review on Motivational Features in MHealth Apps

Abstract

Mobile apps have become a go-to solution for interventions in many health areas that aim to influence user behavior, such as physical activity or nutrition. However, many apps still fail to bind users long-term. Although research has been conducted on individual mechanisms aiming to improve long-term user adoption, such as gamification, we lack an understanding of different approaches at the time of this research. Thus, in this research, we investigate different approaches and persuasive technology that aim to keep the users’ engagement with the app in use. Therefore, this study reviews existing literature and tries to identify how motivational mechanisms can be successfully implemented. In the course of this, identify 14 major motivational mechanisms to increase long-term user adoption of mobile apps. Based on these insights, we want to give advice on how to improve their impact through combination as well as give advice on future implementation.