Push Notifications Research Articles

Use of a research app in an online opt-in panel: The Netquest case

The increasing use of mobile devices in the frame of online surveys has been accompanied by the development of research apps. These research apps have the potential to facilitate the process for respondents (e.g. being able to complete surveys when Internet is not available provides more freedom on when and where participants can participate) and fieldwork companies (e.g. the possibility to use push notifications could lead to higher participation rates). However, previous research suggests that panelists may also be reluctant to install an app. In this study, we answer research questions related to the knowledge and use of the Netquest app. We found that a majority of panelist did not know about the app and although sending invitations significantly increased its installation, the overall total of respondents installing the app remained low. Furthermore, the profile of those who installed the app differs from those who did not. The participation of panelists after they installed the app seems stable. The main reason for installing the app is comfort while the main reason for not installing relates to space/battery usage. Most of those who did not install could accept to install the app.

Semi-Direct Routing Approach for Mobile IP

The Mobile IP (MIP) protocol is used to maintain device connectivity while the device is moving between networks through a permanent IP address and temporary care-of-address (CoA). There are two techniques to implement MIP; these are direct and indirect. The indirect is commonly used in the current industry due to its stability while the mobile host (MH) frequently moves from network to another. However, the indirect technique suffers from the problems of delays and enlargement related to the packet size. The direct technique is more sensitive to frequent mobility, yet it required less transformation overhead with stable mobility. Accordingly, to overcome the disadvantages of both techniques, a semi-direct technique is proposed in this paper. The proposed technique is implemented by minimizing the home agent's interference (HA) with a push notification to the correspondent node (CN) that concerns any modification in the moving MH's CoA. The simulation of the proposed technique, the indirect and the direct routing techniques showed the advantages of the semi-direct routing technique over the conventional approaches. The results showed that the semi-direct approach outperformed the conventional approaches in terms of delay and overhead with frequently moved MH.

Attitudes Toward Using COVID-19 mHealth Tools Among Adults With Chronic Health Conditions: Secondary Data Analysis of the COVID-19 Impact Survey.

BackgroundAdults with chronic conditions are disproportionately burdened by COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Although COVID-19 mobile health (mHealth) apps have emerged, research on attitudes toward using COVID-19 mHealth tools among those with chronic conditions is scarce.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine attitudes toward COVID-19, identify determinants of COVID-19 mHealth tool use across demographic and health-related characteristics, and evaluate associations between chronic health conditions and attitudes toward using COVID-19 mHealth tools (eg, mHealth or web-based methods for tracking COVID-19 exposures, symptoms, and recommendations).MethodsWe used nationally representative data from the COVID-19 Impact Survey collected from April to June 2020 (n=10,760). Primary exposure was a history of chronic conditions, which were defined as self-reported diagnoses of cardiometabolic, respiratory, immune-related, and mental health conditions and overweight/obesity. Primary outcomes were attitudes toward COVID-19 mHealth tools, including the likelihood of using (1) a mobile phone app to track COVID-19 symptoms and receive recommendations; (2) a website to track COVID-19 symptoms, track location, and receive recommendations; and (3) an app using location data to track potential COVID-19 exposure. Outcome response options for COVID-19 mHealth tool use were extremely/very likely, moderately likely, or not too likely/not likely at all. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the likelihood of COVID-19 mHealth tool use between people with different chronic health conditions, with not too likely/not likely at all responses used as the reference category for each outcome. We evaluated the determinants of each COVID-19 mHealth intervention using Poisson regression.ResultsOf the 10,760 respondents, 21.8% of respondents were extremely/very likely to use a mobile phone app or a website to track their COVID-19 symptoms and receive recommendations. Additionally, 24.1% of respondents were extremely/very likely to use a mobile phone app to track their location and receive push notifications about whether they have been exposed to COVID-19. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic status, and residence, adults with mental health conditions were the most likely to report being extremely/very or moderately likely to use each mHealth intervention compared to those without such conditions. Adults with respiratory-related chronic diseases were extremely/very (conditional odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.00-1.35) and moderately likely (conditional odds ratio 1.23, 95% CI 1.04-1.45) to use a mobile phone app to track their location and receive push notifications about whether they have been exposed to COVID-19.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that attitudes toward using COVID-19 mHealth tools vary widely across modalities (eg, web-based method vs app) and chronic health conditions. These findings may inform the adoption of long-term engagement with COVID-19 apps, which is crucial for determining their potential in reducing disparities in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality among individuals with chronic health conditions.

Color Blindness Testing Using A Client-Server Based on The Ishihara Method

The Ishihara method is one way to detect whether or not someone suffers from color blindness. This method possesses several sets of plates or circle patterns containing various combinations of colored dots and sizes, forming numbers visible for people with normal eyes. A collection of several plates with the name Ishihara book is available in the market. However, the book has a weakness for being easily damaged or faded in color. Although there are some shortcomings, several researchers have developed applications to anticipate those weaknesses. Being unable to be used by several people at once and the test history has not been adequately archived, are several examples of shortcomings of existing applications. This study aims to create a client-server-based color blindness testing mobile application. The system can provide real-time test results, and detailed test history is presented. Another feature is the push notification menu that sends messages to all users. This application has been designed and implemented successfully. Thereby, it can be used for a color blindness test before conducting a medical examination.

Smell Pittsburgh

Urban air pollution has been linked to various human health concerns, including cardiopulmonary diseases. Communities who suffer from poor air quality often rely on experts to identify pollution sources due to the lack of accessible tools. Taking this into account, we developedSmell Pittsburgh, a system that enables community members to report odors and track where these odors are frequently concentrated. All smell report data are publicly accessible online. These reports are also sent to the local health department and visualized on a map along with air quality data from monitoring stations. This visualization provides a comprehensive overview of the local pollution landscape. Additionally, with these reports and air quality data, we developed a model to predict upcoming smell events and send push notifications to inform communities. We also applied regression analysis to identify statistically significant effects of push notifications on user engagement. Our evaluation of this system demonstrates that engaging residents in documenting their experiences with pollution odors can help identify local air pollution patterns and can empower communities to advocate for better air quality. All citizen-contributed smell data are publicly accessible and can be downloaded fromhttps://smellpgh.org.

A Mobile-Based Intervention for Dietary Behavior and Physical Activity Change in Individuals at High Risk for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundIntensive lifestyle modifications have proved effective in preventing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), yet the efficiency and effectiveness of these modifications need to be improved. Emerging social media interventions are considered useful in promoting these lifestyles; nevertheless, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of combining them with behavior theory.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine the effectiveness of a 6-month mobile-based intervention (DHealthBar, a WeChat applet) combined with behavioral theory compared with a printed intervention in improving dietary behaviors, physical activity, and intention to change these behaviors among populations at high risk for T2DM.MethodsParticipants aged 23 to 67 years were recruited offline in Beijing, China, and were randomized into the intervention group or the control group, which received educational content via DHealthBar or a printed handbook, respectively. Educational materials were culturally tailored recommendations on improving dietary behaviors, physical activity, and intention to change based on the transtheoretical model. Participants in the intervention arm received push notifications twice per week on WeChat and had access to the educational content for the 6-month study period. Participants in the control arm received the same intervention content through printed materials. The outcomes of participants’ behavior change, intention to change behavior, and anthropometric characteristics were collected via online measuring tools at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.ResultsIn this study, 79 enrolled individuals completed baseline information collection (control: n=38 vs intervention: n=41), and 96% (76/79) completed the 6-month follow-up visit. Attrition rates did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (χ21=0.0, P=.61). Baseline equivalence was found. Participants in both groups reported a statistically significant decrease in energy intake at the 2 follow-up assessments compared with baseline (3 months, control: exp[β]=0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.92 vs intervention: exp[β]=0.76, 95% CI 0.68-0.85; 6 months, control: exp[β]=0.87, 95% CI 0.78-0.96 vs intervention: exp[β]=0.57, 95% CI 0.51-0.64). At 6 months, a significantly larger decrease was observed in the intervention group in energy, fat, and carbohydrate intake, accompanied with a significantly larger increase in moderate-intensity physical activity compared with the control group (energy: exp[β]=0.66, 95% CI 0.56-0.77; fat: exp[β]=0.71, 95% CI 0.54-0.95; carbohydrates: exp[β]=0.83, 95% CI 0.66-1.03; moderate-intensity physical activity: exp[β]=2.05, 95% CI 1.23-3.44). After 6 months of the intervention, participants in the intervention group were more likely to be at higher stages of dietary behaviors (exp[β]=26.80, 95% CI 3.51-204.91) and physical activity (exp[β]=15.60, 95% CI 2.67-91.04) than the control group.ConclusionsDHealthBar was initially effective in improving dietary behavior, physical activity, and intention to change these behaviors among populations who were at high risk of developing T2DM, with significant differences in the changes of outcomes over the 6-month intervention period.Trial RegistrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000032323; https://tinyurl.com/y4h8q4uf

The Determinants for Food Safety Push Notifications on Continuance Intention in an E-Appointment System for Public Health Medical Services: The Perspectives of UTAUT and Information System Quality.

Compared to other appointment methods in public hospitals, registering through the Internet or utilizing e-appointments, or registering online as an outpatient, can provide more information to the user. This research investigated the integration of unified theory of the acceptance and use of technology and information system quality in determining factors that influence the adoption of e-appointments by patients, based on the requirements of food safety consultation in Taiwan. Empirical data from 369 valid samples were assessed using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The key findings of this study indicated that patients’ acceptance of e-appointments was influenced by users’ perceptions (i.e., performance expectancy and facilitating conditions), along with information quality and service quality. The practical and academic implications are provided for future practitioners and scholars, and to enhance patients’ usage of e-appointments in their healthcare activities.

Mobile contextual marketing in a museum setting

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how the contextual marketing strategy facilitated by mobile technology enhances consumers’ purchase intention and experiential quality in a hedonic service setting – museum. Specifically, this study explores the impacts of a context-triggered push notification promoting context-related souvenirs embedded in the museum mobile app on visitors’ souvenir purchase intention and visit experience.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a scenario-based experimental design with video stimuli and a follow-up survey questionnaire. A total of 151 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two art museum visiting scenarios (i.e. with vs without the in-app push notification). A series of one-way ANOVA comparisons and serial mediation tests were conducted for hypotheses testing.FindingsThe results show that the mobile app promoting context-related souvenirs positively affects museum visitors’ souvenir purchase intention without undermining their experiential quality. The serial mediation effects through contextual perceived value and impulse buying tendency further explain how the in-app push notification influences visitors’ souvenir purchase intention.Originality/valueThis study extends the contextual marketing research to a unique service domain (i.e. museum) and contributes to the service technology literature. The findings present empirical evidence for the effectiveness of mobile contextual marketing and its potential to enhance consumers’ experiential quality in a hedonic service setting. The current research provides practical guidelines to both the museum management and mobile app developers.

How You Remind Me! The Influence of Mobile Push Notifications on Success Rates in Last-Minute Bidding

Last-minute bidding is a prevalent strategy in which bidders submit their bids at the very end of an online auction; mobile push notifications can remind these bidders of upcoming deadlines and thus might determine bidding success. Using field data, this study demonstrates that last-minute bidders use mobile push notifications purposefully and strategically as well as more frequently than bidders with different bidding patterns. Among last-minute bidders, chances of winning the auction increase with their use of push notifications. In detail, mobile push notifications are particularly effective when last-minute bidders place less serious bids in search of a bargain, yet they lose effectiveness if the bids are placed closer to the auctions' end. They prove to be equally useful tools for last-minute bidders with varying experience levels and for bids placed through both mobile and stationary devices. Managers of online (auction) platforms therefore should design and market their mobile push notifications as customizable, helpful features.

Spatial performance of location-based alerts in France

This study experiments a method for estimating and mapping the alerting potential of two Location-Based Alerting Solutions (LBAS): messaging techniques (cell broadcast, CBC, or location-based SMS, LB-SMS) and the smartphone push notification. Experiments have been evaluated over metropolitan France, a heterogeneously populated and risky area, considering that individuals are located at home. The rate of alertable individuals, calculated at the municipal level, show very strong potential of CBC/LB-SMS. 94.21% of individuals can be alertable using CBC/LB-SMS and 74.15% using the smartphone push notification. There is a very strong homogeneity in the performance of LBAS at the national level, but also local weaknesses exist. Mapping this potential of performance contributes to the discussion about the use of LBAS in France and paves the way for a broader assessment of the effectiveness of alerting solutions in order to propose a multi-channel system that will consider the territorial characteristics.

USING THE KANO MODEL TO BUILD A MANAGER APP PORTAL ACCOMMODATING THEIR USER PREFERENCES

Nowadays, even apps for corporate management are respectable. Manager app portals complement such “run-a-business” apps with apps that make managers’ business life easier. The right mix of apps makes the difference. Accommodating the user perspective, the objective of this article is to examine which apps disproportionately influence managers’ perception regarding the usefulness of information systems (IS). Applying the Kano model and considering both “analyst-” and “consumer-type” managers, we employ findings from a manager focus group survey to discuss the strongest differentiators: (1) Offer collaboration bars and push notifications for analyst managers. Get consumer managers “online” with news tickers. (2) Make core reports more interactive with drill downs and filters for manager self-service. (3) Take “fun and enjoyment” into account when accommodating managers’ business life. (4) Consider that tablets create their own manager use case as a “first-stop information shop.”

ECHOLOCATING THE DIGITAL SELF: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This paper explores echolocation as a conceptual framework to extend our understanding of digital sociality. Echolocation is a process whereby the characteristics of an echo build a map of location and relation. Most often we think of how bats, whales, and dolphins echolocate to navigate. If we think of radar, sonar, or lidar, we might think of submarines, autonomous vehicles, or even geolocation on our mobile devices. In this paper, I discuss echolocation as a symbolic interaction framework for describing how the Self is negotiated and identified in and as a part of social space. It focuses attention on the character and function of pings, push notifications, red dots on device screens, and other responses in ongoing interactions between people in social media or between humans and nonhuman or more than human elements of media ecologies. The interpretive qualitative analysis is part of a six year ethnographic study of youth. The analysis of echolocation emerges from a subset of the larger study, those who feel anxiety and even existential vulnerability when disconnected. Based on this qualitative analysis of narratives, the paper builds and extends echolocation as a theory of digital sociality that pays close attention to the response versus the performance in the interaction model.

A Proposed Framework of Campus-Oriented Online Text Messaging System

Nowadays, the rapid advancement of mobile software development has triggered to emerge of more online text messaging applications. In the environment of higher education institutions, it is also widely utilized to support the communication process between campus members. This research proposed a system of campus-specific online text messaging that is expected to improve academic activities. As a case study, the system was implemented using <em>React Native</em> framework and <em>Push Notification Service</em> for use in State Polytechnic of Malang, Indonesia. The system consists of three main subsystems that work together, including <em>Client Application</em>, <em>Server Application</em>, and <em>Push Notification Manager</em>. To evaluate the proposed system, we conducted a survey. The result of the user satisfaction test shows that most users consisting of lecturers, staff, and students felt more helped in the communication process in the campus environment.

A Solar-Powered IoT Connected Physical Mailbox Interfaced with Smart Devices

In this age of electronic communication, checking the physical mailbox is still part of our daily life. Mailboxes are placed several meters away from the house, and sometimes across the opposite side of a street. It is annoying to walk to the mailbox each day and realize that the mailbox is empty. In this paper, an Internet of Things (IoT)-connected smart mailbox is developed that automatically sends a notification to the smartphone whenever new mail arrives. This notification removes the frustration of an unnecessary trip to the mailbox. The proposed mailbox contains a low power device comprising of sensors, a system-on-chip microcontroller with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and a rechargeable battery that charges with a solar panel. Whenever the mailbox door is closed, it checks the presence of mail and then sends the data to a hub using BLE. The hub is placed inside the house and sends a push notification to the smartphone using the home Wi-Fi. A smart speaker, Google Home, is also interfaced with the system, which can verbally say the status of the mailbox when asked a customized question. A prototype of the smart mailbox, the hub, and the smartphone app is developed and tested successfully.

Push Notification Penghubung Orang Tua dan Guru Berbasis Android Menggunakan Firebase Cloud Messaging

Information in the form of an agenda made by the teacher is an important thing that parents should know, but the fact is that parents are mostly late in getting all of this information. With the real time features that have been developed in mobile applications today, this problem can be overcome. This study aims to implement the push notification function in applications used by parents and teachers in school. This application is useful as a connector that provides an agenda between users, so all parents can find out the information agenda in real time. We are using prototyping method which consists of the stages of gathering needs, building prototyping, evaluating prototyping, coding, system test, system evaluating, and system implementation. The system built runs well that proved by the blackbox testing carried out. The results of the test show that all the features of the system run intact and well.

Vividness of news push notifications and users’ response

With the media environment becoming increasingly digital, the shift to online news has weakened the direct relationship between publishers and readers (Newman et al., 2019). The current challenge for news media, therefore, is to build traffic towards both their apps and web sites. The most popular means in meeting such a challenge is through the effective use of “push notifications.” This paper analyzes how vivid push notifications can influence the click-through rate. It proposes that vivid (as opposed to “not vivid”) wording of headlines will have a positive influence on click-through rates. The use of vivid images will also have a positive influence on click-through rates. Additionally, this paper proposes that vivid images will moderate the relationship between vivid headline text and click-through rate only when they are congruent with the central theme of the news item. In order to test this moderation model, we conducted quasi-experimental field research, using a random sample of 770 news push notifications from mainstream media, on the subject of general affairs. Data were analyzed using model 3 of the PROCESS macro. The results support the hypothesis and contribute to the scant literature on push notifications in various areas (notably in news media), by providing a better understanding of the underlying mechanism explaining user response: the vividness evoked by these messages contributes to users willing to deepen the content of the news. It also discusses practical implications, adding to the growing literature on mobile news effects.

Using mHealth to Increase the Reach of Local Guidance to Health Professionals as Part of an Institutional Response Plan to the COVID-19 Outbreak: Usage Analysis Study.

BackgroundThe ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic forced health jurisdictions worldwide to significantly restructure and reorganize their medical activities. In response to the rapidly evolving body of evidence, a solid communication strategy is needed to increase the reach of and adherence to locally drafted and validated guidance to aide medical staff with COVID-19–related clinical decisions.ObjectiveWe present a usage analysis of a dedicated mobile health (mHealth) platform as part of an institutional knowledge dissemination strategy of COVID-19–related guidance to all health care workers (HCWs) in a large academic hospital.MethodsA multidisciplinary team of experts drafted local guidance related to COVID-19. In total, 60 documents and 17 external links were made available through the platform. Documents were disseminated using a recently deployed mHealth platform for HCWs. Targeted dissemination of COVID-19–related content began on March 22, 2020. Using a third-party statistics tool, data concerning user activity and content use was anonymously collected. A quantitative analysis of user activity was performed over a 4-month period, separated into 3 periods: 2 months before (Period A), 2 weeks after (Period B), and 6 weeks following (Period C) targeted dissemination. Regional epidemiological data (daily new COVID-19 cases and total COVID-19–related hospitalizations) was extracted from an official registry.ResultsDuring the study period, the platform was downloaded by 1233 new users. Consequently, the total number of users increased from 1766 users before Period A to a total of 2999 users at the end of Period C. We observed 27,046 document views, of which 12,728 (47.1%) were COVID-19–related. The highest increase in activity occurred in Period B, rapidly following targeted dissemination, with 7740 COVID-19–related content views, representing 71.2% of total content views within the abovementioned period and 550 daily views of COVID-19–related documents. Total documents consulted per day increased from 117 (IQR 74-160) to 657 (IQR 481-1051), P<.001. This increase in activity followed the epidemiological curbing of newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, which peaked during Period B. Total active devices doubled from 684 to 1400, daily user activity increased fourfold, and the number of active devices rose from 53 (IQR 40-70) to 210 (IQR 167-297), P<.001. In addition, the number of sessions per day rose from 166 (IQR 110-246) to 704 (IQR 517-1028), P<.001. A persistent but reduced increase in total documents consulted per day (172 [IQR 131-251] versus 117 [IQR 74-160], P<.001) and active devices (71 [IQR 64-89] versus 53 [IQR 40-70]) was observed in Period C compared to Period A, while only 29.8% of the content accessed was COVID-19–related. After targeted dissemination, an immediate increase in activity was observed after push notifications were sent to users.ConclusionsThe use of an mHealth solution to disseminate time-sensitive medical knowledge seemed to be an effective solution to increase the reach of validated content to a targeted audience.

EARTHQUAKE INFORMATION PUSH NOTIFICATION SYSTEM IN ANDROID APPLICATION USING GOOGLE FIREBASE

Indonesia is a country located between three tectonic plates, namely Eurasia, the Pacific and Indo-Australia, which is one of the active plates, so that there is the potential for earthquakes, which are sometimes followed by tsunami disasters. The latest accurate, precise, and trusted earthquake information is needed by all parties. For this reason, a system is needed to inform the latest earthquake so that the impact can be minimized. Departing from open data published by BMKG, which is an earthquake in real time, a push notification system for earthquake information was designed to the Android application using Google Firebase. Push notifications are adjusted for specific areas based on user wishes. When the user is in the vicinity of an earthquake-affected or surrounding area, or the location of an earthquake is in a city that is monitored by the user, the notifications that appear can be alerts. Whereas when the user is in a location that is not affected by an earthquake, the notification that appears is only as information that there is an earthquake in a certain area. After analyzing, designing, implementing and testing using the black box testing method, push notification system functionally produces results that are as expected.

Consumer Acceptance of App Push Notifications: Systematic Review on the Influence of Frequency

Using push notifications, companies can address their smartphone app users with advertising messages. Each of these notifications can mean added value for smartphone users in terms of content, but also disruption and interruption. It is therefore important for advertisers to understand how the frequency of message delivery influences consumer acceptance. The systematic review is based on the PRISMA method and initially identifies a total of 18,725 potentially relevant scientific papers. The 17 research articles included in the qualitative synthesis show that push notifications are suitable for encouraging users to use an app and establish new habits. App usage increases with frequency, with particularly active users tolerating higher frequencies. At the same time it is also shown that too high a frequency can be perceived as disturbing and users should therefore be given the opportunity to determine the frequency with which they receive notifications. A gap in research has been identified in particular in studies that look at real observed behaviour of app users instead of behaviour reported via questionnaires and examine the interaction of frequency, content and presentation of notifications.

The Temporal Nature of Mobile Push Notification Alerts: A Study of European News Outlets’ Dissemination Patterns

Push notifications provide news outlets with direct access to audiences amid concerns around information overload, disinformation, and heightened competition for reader attention. Such news distribution is relevant because it (a) bypasses social media and news aggregators, reaching readers directly; (b) alters the agency and control of temporal news personalisation; and (c) reinforces mobile as the locus of contact between news organisations and audiences. However, push notifications are a relatively under-researched topic. We explore news organisations’ use of alerts, considering whether they attempt to integrate with existing mobile-user behaviour patterns or seek to be a disruptive element, garnering attention when audiences are not typically using devices. Through quantitative content analysis, this study examines the temporality of push notifications (n = 7092) from nine Northwestern European countries, comprising 34 news outlets. These data allow for comparisons at two levels: publisher type and national context. The study shows how the temporal patterns of push notifications’ dissemination align with existing news consumption behaviours; concepts of content-snacking and audiences’ rhythms and rituals are a useful lens through which these immediate, concise texts can be considered. Our findings show that news organisations use the mobile channel for attracting and maintaining users’ attention, with varying interpretations of temporal customisability.