Fitness wearables can be critical in wellness management by facilitating a shift from treatment to prevention. Despite this, multiple reports indicate that their post-adoption usage is decreasing. At the same time, the available research insights do not provide a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of post-adoption continuance that can be leveraged to reverse this trend. The purpose of this research was thus to improve our understanding of post-adoption intentions toward fitness wearables.
We conceptualized the research model using the dual lens of the theory of consumption values (TCV) and innovation resistance theory (IRT). A sequential mixed-method approach was used to operationalize our conceptualization, where we first identified context-specific consumption values and barriers through a qualitative study of 49 users, followed by a quantitative data collection.
Analyzing data of 436 wearable users, we confirmed the positive association of conditional and functional values with intentions and intentions with WOM. Results also indicated a positive association of social value with functional value and WOM and a negative association of functional barriers and intentions. However, the proposed moderation effect of user satisfaction was not supported.
The study integrates two seminal consumer behavior theories to elucidate post-adoption intentions toward an information systems (IS) product, primarily examined from a technology acceptance perspective so far. By combining the dichotomous theorizations, we offer a comprehensive exposition of consumers’ decision-making, more so by going beyond the generic postulates of the two theories to identify context-specific constructs.
