JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Despite the worldwide growth in mHealth tools and the possible benefits of mHealth for patients and healthcare providers, scientific research examining factors explaining the adoption level of mHealth tools remains scarce.

Objective:

We performed an experimental vignette study to investigate how four factors related to the business model of an mHealth application affect its adoption and users’ willingness to pay: The revenue model (i.e., sharing data with third parties versus accepting advertisements), the data protection model (GDPR compliant data handling versus non-GDPR compliant data handling), the recommendation model (i.e. doctor versus patient recommendation) and the manufacturer model (i.e. pharmaceutical versus medical association manufacturer). Health consciousness, health information orientation and eHealth literacy were explored as intra-personal predictors of adoption.

Methods:

We conducted an experimental study in three countries (Spain [N=800], Germany [N=800], the Netherlands [N=416]) to assess the influence of multiple business models and intra-personal characteristics on the willingness to pay and intention to download a health app.

Results:

The results showed that the revenue model did not affect willingness to pay, nor intentions to download the app, in all three countries. In the Netherlands, data protection increased willingness to pay for the health app. Moreover, in all three countries we found that data protection made people more likely to download the app. In Germany and the Netherlands a doctor recommendation increased both willingness to pay and intention to download the health app. Next, for all three countries, we found that apps manufactured in association with a medical organization were more likely to be downloaded. Finally, in all three countries, men, younger persons and higher educated persons, and people with a health information orientation were willing to pay more for the adoption of the health app and had a higher intention to download the app.

Conclusions:

The finding that people want their data protected by legislation but are not willing to pay more for data protection suggests that in the context of mHealth applications privacy protection cannot be leveraged as a selling point. However, people do value a doctor recommendation and that apps are manufactured by a medical association, in particular for the intention to download.