Previously submitted to: JMIR mHealth and uHealth (no longer under consideration since May 02, 2019)
Date Submitted: Apr 11, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 11, 2018 - Jun 6, 2018
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Message Framing and Exercise Effects in Mobile Fitness Application: An Experimental Study Using the Playtest Method
Background:
The ultimate goals of exercise contents in the form of apps are to manage and nurture users’ exercise habits. To promote and maintain their desire for exercise, app developers focus not only on the utilization of various media characteristics for fitness apps but also on the composition and effects of messages that stimulate and reward users’ exercise behaviors.
Objective:
This study sought to verify differences in user experiences and exercise experiences depending on the message framing provided by a mobile fitness app, based on evaluation of the variables of perceived benefit, exercise interest, exercise flow, and exercise attitude.
Methods:
The overall experimental design of this study was done with an independent sample design with random assignment of participants into two groups according to the message frame treatment of the fitness app, and was conducted using the playtest method. Participants were instructed to use two types of fitness app that presented gain or loss messages about exercise outcomes while performing exercises (male 50, female 50). Thereafter, they were surveyed with a self-administered questionnaire. The researchers analyzed the survey data collected during this process and analyzed the covariance analysis (ANCOVA).
Results:
There was a significant difference in perceived benefit, which corresponded to the user experience variable (F(1,97)=16.96, p < 0.01, η²= .149), between gain and loss messages. The ANCOVA results for exercise interest, flow, and attitude also showed significant differences between the gain vs. loss messages as shown in the values for exercise interest (F(1,97)=17.73, p < 0.01, η²= .155), exercise flow (F(1,97)=16.80, p < 0.01, η²= .148), and exercise attitude (F(1,97)=25.88, p < 0.01, η²= .211). Therefore, we found that users who were exposed to gain-framed messages in the mobile fitness app showed higher perceived benefit, exercise interest, and exercise flow than those who were exposed to loss-framed messages. Furthermore, gain-framed messages also led to a positive attitude toward exercise.
Conclusions:
The present study is meaningful due to its investigation of the influences and persuasive effects of gain- and loss-framed messages given by a health fitness app. Depending on that content, the user may decide whether or not to accept the message and either start or continue to do the app-suggested behavior. Therefore, in the process of communication between media and users, it is very important that users are exposed to messages that are appropriate for their situation and goals. This study, which demonstrated that gain-framed messages enhanced the exercise experiences of users compared to loss-framed messages when persuasive messages were presented through a health app, provides a theoretical foundation for health message framing in exercise apps.
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