How the social dimension of fitness apps can enhance and undermine wellbeing

Abstract

Purpose While the positive health benefits of fitness apps, which motivate and track physical exercise, are widely acknowledged, the adverse connection between these technologies and wellbeing has received little attention. The purpose of this paper is to determine how the social dimensions of fitness apps predict the type of passion (harmonious and obsessive) one has for physical exercise, and what the resulting positive and negative implications are for wellbeing. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the theoretical frameworks of social influence and the dual model of passion (DMP), this study develops a model depicting how fitness apps relate to the causes and consequences of harmonious and obsessive passion for exercise. Survey data were collected from 272 fitness app using cyclists and analysed with partial least squares structural equation modelling techniques. Findings Different social influence aspects of fitness apps appeal to different types of exercisers. A harmonious passion for physical exercise is predicted by the positive reciprocal benefits attained from one’s fitness app community, while an obsessive passion is predicted by positive recognition. In turn, a harmonious passion for exercise is negatively associated with life burnout, while an obsessive passion strongly affirms that relationship. In addition, the relationship between social influence and life burnout is fully mediated by the type of passion a fitness app user possesses. Originality/value Underpinned by the DMP, the study provides a theoretical framework explaining how the use of fitness apps can result in opposing wellness outcomes.

Social gamification affordances in the green IT services: perspectives from recognition and social overload

“…Hamari and Koivisto (2015) find that recognition can contribute to positive attitude and then drive continued use of gamified exercise services. Whelan and Clohessy (2020) indicate that recognition from fitness application is positively associated with user's passion. In gamified services, recognition can induce users' desire for social comparison that will provide user value and increase firm-beneficial user behaviors.…”

“…In the IS research studies, it is widely acknowledged that users pursue positive recognition from others when they make use of interactive ICT tools (Hwang and Francesco, 2004). With the penetration of social features in IS, studies have indicated that recognition could result in positive outcomes such as attitude, use and continued use toward various systems (Hernandez et al , 2011; Teng, 2017), including gamified services (Whelan and Clohessy, 2020; Hamari and Koivisto, 2015; Wolf et al , 2020).…”

“…Recently, social gamification is permeating many different types of information technology (IT) services to motivate user behavior (Whelan and Clohessy, 2020). For example, IT services are designed to exert social motivations (e.g.…”

“…However, scholars have highlighted the difficulty and challenge of social gamification concerning its short-lived or even adverse effects; for example, many users even felt they were being controlled by gamified services and did not like it (Liu et al , 2017). Hence, recent studies have specifically called for attention to the roles of social gamification in users’ psychological and behavioral outcomes (Whelan and Clohessy, 2020). However, only a small body of research studies has empirically tested the effects of specific game elements in the green IT services (Johnson et al , 2017); besides, they mainly focus on the hedonic and utilitarian aspects, while the social aspects have been ignored (Lounis et al , 2014; Mulcahy et al , 2020).…”

Does passion for physical activity spillover into performance at work? Examining the direct and indirect effects of passion and life satisfaction on organisational performance and innovativeness

“…In contrast, obsessive passion reflects a lack of self-control towards engaging in the activity. The same athlete would display an obsessive passion if they were consumed by a sense of having to persist with their planned 10km run no matter what else might be going on in their life (e.g., feeling ill, recovering from injury, or a family or work event), and thus often leads to maladaptive outcomes (Curran, Hill, Appleton, Vallerand, & Standage, 2015;Whelan & Clohessy, 2020). Obsessive passion emerges from a partial behavioral integration of the activity that one loves (Curran et al, 2015).…”