Understanding mobile health service use: An investigation of routine and emergency use intentions

Abstract

This study theorizes two information systems (IS) use behaviors associated with individuals’ behavioral intention of mobile health (mHealth) services. Emergency use refers to individuals’ use of IS in emergency situations. Routine use refers to individuals’ use of IS on a basis. We adopt motivation theory as our overarching theoretical lens through which we investigate the influence of individuals’ different motivation incentives on their emergency and routine use intentions of mHealth services. We also investigate the influences of technological and psychological antecedents on extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. Based on data collected from 241 participants, we find that perceived usefulness enhances people’s emergency and routine use intentions of mHealth services and that perceived enjoyment positively influences routine use intention. In addition, we find that perceived source credibility, perceived service availability, and perceived diagnosticity influence perceived usefulness (extrinsic motivation), whereas perceived autonomy, perceived competence, perceived relatedness, and curiosity affect perceived enjoyment (intrinsic motivation). This research offers insights for IS literature regarding mHealth emergency and routine use behaviors.