Abstract
Physical activity apps and devices offer manifold opportunities for users to increase their activity levels and have gained growing popularity. However, people worldwide still struggle to reach sufficient levels of physical activity. While researchers attempted to make the technologies more motivational, a differentiation between autonomous and controlled motivation is rarely applied. This differentiation, which originated in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), is crucial because only autonomous motivation is a predictor for long-term behaviour. Furthermore, while complex intervention packages based on SDT have shown promising results for behaviour change, the effectiveness of the individual techniques remains unclear. This makes it difficult to provide clear guidance on how to improve the technologies.
The objective of this thesis was to provide insights into Information Systems for Physical Activity (ISPAs) as an environment factor within the SDT-framework, to increase understanding of how they could be improved for sustained behaviour change. The focus was on the users’ perceived app support and autonomous motivation for physical activity. It was hypothesised that perceived app support is associated with autonomous motivation for the physical activities ISPAs are used for. Based on previous literature perceived app support was expected to be low for current ISPAs, but might be increased by implementing Motivation and Behaviour Change Techniques.
The research approach was to first explore current ISPAs as an environment factor within SDT-framework, through two online surveys with current app users. Second, a factorial experiment was conducted to investigate effects of an app-based intervention on motivation for walking in new users. The studies showed that current apps and devices work for some people, but that they struggled to provide the right support in a changing environment. Perceived app support was associated positively with autonomous motivation for the physical activity the app was used for. Autonomous motivation increased during the app-based intervention. The effect could however not be attributed to individual techniques, which suggests the need for further research with bigger sample sizes.
This work contributes to the literature in multiple ways. It developed the construct of perceived app support and connected it to the SDT-construct of autonomous motivation. Evaluating apps from this perspective can help developers to create ISPAs that support users to become and maintain physically active. Moreover, this work presented insights into changes in the construct of perceived app support and autonomous motivation by comparing values before and after COVID-19 restrictions, and before and after the use of a technology-based intervention. These data indicate that autonomous motivation can increase during an app-based intervention. An example was provided for how technologies could help with theory and technique testing to make behaviour change interventions even more effective. This knowledge could be transferred to similar behaviours, such as healthy eating.