Continuance Usage Intention of Wearable Healthcare Technology: A Comparison of Younger and Older Users

Wearable healthcare technology (WHT) has been developed for a more active and healthier lifestyle. However, after adoption, many users abandon it. Therefore, this study aims to identify important factors contributing to WHT's continuance usage intention, separating younger and older users. A questionnaire was developed, including ten WHT-related factors: functionality and accuracy, ease of hardware use, ease of software use, effectiveness, privacy protection, social value, epistemic value, emotional value, perceived control, and concentration. The online survey was conducted and collected responses from 378 WHT users, of which 278 were under 50 years old. The regression results showed that the ease of hardware use positively influenced all the users' continuance usage intention. In addition, perceived social value and epistemic value contributed significantly to younger users' intention; while perceived control had a significant impact in the older-user group. Therefore, to improve WHT's continuance usage, companies need to focus on the ease of hardware use; to design WHT that can draw younger users' curiosity and expand WHT-related social connection; and to support older users about how to use WHT for their personal healthcare management.