a The Edward R Murrow College of Communication , Washington State University , Pullman , USA.
J Health Commun. 2018;23(4):379-386. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2018.1455768. Epub 2018 Mar 30.
Fitness tracking apps have the potential to change unhealthy lifestyles, but users' lack of compliance is an issue. The current intervention examined the effectiveness of using goal-setting theory-based text message reminders to promote tracking activities on fitness apps. We conducted a 2-week experiment with pre- and post-tests with young adults (n = 50). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups-a goal-setting text message reminder group and a generic text message reminder group. Participants were asked to use a fitness tracking app to log physical activity and diet for the duration of the study. Participants who received goal-setting reminders logged significantly more physical activities than those who only received generic reminders. Further, participants who received goal-setting reminders liked the messages and showed significantly increased self-efficacy, awareness of personal goals, motivation, and intention to use the app. The study shows that incorporating goal-setting theory-based text message reminders can be useful to boost user compliance with self-monitoring fitness apps by reinforcing users' personal goals and enhancing cognitive factors associated with health behavior change.
健身追踪应用程序有可能改变不健康的生活方式，但用户的不遵守规定是一个问题。本研究采用基于目标设定理论的短信提醒来促进健身应用程序上的跟踪活动，检验了这种干预措施的有效性。我们进行了一项为期两周的实验，采用前后测设计，参与者为年轻人（n=50）。参与者被随机分配到两个组——目标设定短信提醒组和通用短信提醒组。要求参与者使用健身追踪应用程序记录整个研究期间的身体活动和饮食情况。收到目标设定提醒的参与者记录的身体活动明显多于仅收到通用提醒的参与者。此外，收到目标设定提醒的参与者喜欢这些信息，并表现出明显增强的自我效能感、个人目标意识、动机和使用应用程序的意愿。研究表明，通过强化用户的个人目标和增强与健康行为改变相关的认知因素，将基于目标设定理论的短信提醒纳入其中，可以有效提高用户对自我监测健身应用程序的依从性。
