Online community of users – Study of social comparison and tie-strength to support users of a fitness app

The objective of this research is to investigate the process by which health apps support health behavior change. Specifically, we question the role of the social support provided by an online community of users through two important mechanisms: social comparison (upward vs downward) and users’ ties strength (strong vs weak). Are those mechanisms as favorable to the health app effectiveness as expected? With an experimental approach, we show that upward comparison and weak ties of users negatively influences the effectiveness of a fitness app, measured through perceived social support, users’ self-efficacy, social experience and related attitudes and behavioral intentions. We contribute theoretically to the theoretical knowledge about the role of an online community of users on the effectiveness of fitness apps. We also offer insights to orient health apps designers in their design efforts to improve the effectiveness of their applications