Can Digital Coaching Boost Your Performance? – A Qualitative Study among Physically Active People

The use of sport and wellness technology devices among athletes is highly popular. At the same time the demand for easy to understand, clear, and personalized information is also growing. Instead of numbers, users need and want solutions. Digital coaching can offer solutions for this by providing valuable training data and offering guidance and instructions on how to improve the training. This exploratory study focuses on the experiences, needs, and wants regarding a digital coach application among physically active people, more precisely crosscountry skiers. We found that the digital coach was perceived to have motivational elements. It was also viewed having potential to increase the awar…

Young Elderly and Digital Coaching : A Quantitative Intervention Study on Exercise Self-Efficacy

Sport and wellness technology devices are becoming an increasingly relevant topic when discussing health and wellness. This study focuses on the use of a “digital coach”, within a specific population, young elderly people. This research explored how the use of a digital coach would affect self-efficacy related to physical activity and exercise among young elderly. Thisquantitative intervention study provided a digital coaching device to a group of young elderly people ranging from 61-78 in age for 10-weeks. It was found that a digital coach may be useful for this population, particularly in increasing their perceived confidence in exercising independently. However, the participants’ percept…

Wellness Technology Use in Everyday Life: A Diary Study

Digital wellness technologies and their use have become exceedingly popular. More and more people are using them in their everyday lives. Respectively, the need to understand their users and usage has increased. This study aims to deepen the understanding of how people use and perceive wellness technologies in their everyday lives. Empirically, the study is based on diaries collected from 18 participants over a six-week period, which are analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that the use of wellness technologies can positively influence wellness motivation. Further, they can help people to learn more about their own wellness related behaviour and its effects (learning-effect). …

Using Sport and Wellness Technology to Promote Physical Activity: An Intervention Study among Teenagers

Life-long physical activity patterns are established during teenage years. Thus, promoting physical activity for teenagers is important. Sport and wellness technology shows promise for promoting physical activity. Yet, its research with teenage populations is sparse. This intervention study focused on whether using a sport and wellness technology application could affect the physical activity intention of teenagers, its antecedents, and the antecedents’ effects on intention by using the theory of planned behavior combined with the concept of self-efficacy as a theoretical framework. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention and the control group in …

Can Sport and Wellness Technology be My Personal Trainer? : Teenagers and Digital Coaching

The attention towards digital coaching solutions has increased among users of sport and wellness technologies, the related industry, the healthcare and wellness sector, and among scholars. However, as the commercial digital coaching solutions are rather novel, the number of studies about their influence or the usage experiences is still rather limited. Another topic that is lacking research is the relationship of teenagers and sport and wellness technology. Since using the internet and technological devices on a daily basis has become the norm for teenagers, it is worth paying attention to how technology could be developed in order to better motivate them towards a healthier lifestyle. The …

Expectations and Experiences of Implementing a Mobile Secure Communication Application

The privacy and security of communication in corporations and governmental organizations has increased enormously over the years. At the same time, a growing amount of technological solutions to support this have emerged. This study examines user expectations before and use experiences during the implementation phase of a mobile secure communication application. These are investigated from the expectation–confirmation perspective and its influence on continued adoption. The study has an exploratory approach for this investigation. To guide the investigation, the study draws from the expectation–confirmation theory (ECT) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). Emp…

Does Physical Activity Application Use Promote Self-Efficacy for Exercise? A Study Among Aged People

The importance of sustained physical activity in healthy aging is well established. To achieve sustained physical activity and exercise, related self-efficacy is important. Hence, solutions to promote self-efficacy for exercise among aged people are urgently needed. Digital wellness technologies provide a potential solution, but research on their potential to promote self-efficacy for exercise is scarce and more research is needed. To address this need, this study investigates how effective is the use of a physical activity application in promoting self-efficacy for exercise among aged people. Self-efficacy levels were compared between three different time points: before taking the applicat…

Digital coaching and athlete’s self-efficacy : A quantitative study on sport and wellness technology

The use and demand for sport and wellness technology devices among athletes are increasing. The technology is used to improve the quality of training but also to improve quality of life by, for example, reducing risk of injury. Together with the increased interest towards sport and wellness technology, the demand for clear and easy to understand personalized information is growing. Digital coaching offers solutions for this demand by not only providing valuable training data but also offering instructions and guidance on how to improve the training. By doing this, the sport and wellness technology can act as a personal coach and therefore can also affect athletes’ confidence and perception …

Critical Experiences with Sport and Wellness Technology Digital Coach : A Study among University Students with Low Levels of Physical Activity

University age students have been found to be in a high risk of disengagement with physical activity and therefore exercise promotion to this target group is important. Since today’s students are familiar with different kinds of digital technology, it is worth including personal wellness devices in physical activity promotion. This study explores critical experiences occurring during the implementation phase of a sport and wellness technology digital coach among university students with low or sedentary physical activity level. This study uses qualitative methods and is based on a thematic analysis of 30 interviews combined with the critical incident technique. The study reveals the experie…

Identifying the Ideal Types of Online Shoppers : A Qualitative Analysis of Online Shopping

The tremendous increase in online shopping has created a growing demand to understand online shopping behavior. This study contributes to this understanding by identifying ideal types among online shoppers. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. Theoretically, the study draws from different perspectives to create a multifaceted view of online shoppers. The purpose is not to categorize online shoppers under a specific category but rather to help understand different typically occurring online shopping behaviors. Through thematic analysis of the data from 31 participants, this study presents five id…

Sport clubs' health promotion activities for the surrounging communities : a comparative case study of Columbus Blue Jackets, HJK and Sotkamon Jymy

ABSTRACT The level of physical activity continues to decrease globally. Therefore it is important to explore new ways of promoting physical activity and healthy life style. Sport clubs are an excellent setting for physical activity and health related programs targeted for the surrounding community due to their visibility, popularity and image. They offer also companies a possibility to conduct their health related corporate social responsibility activities by supporting and cooperating with the club. Despite its importance there are not many studies related to the role of sport clubs as health promoters. The aim of this research is to explore what kind of health promotion activities sport c…

User expectations, use experiences and continued adoption of a mobile secure communication application

The importance of secure communication between employees in enterprises and governmental organizations as well as technologies to support that has increased tremendously over the past years. This study examines the user expectations before and the use experiences during the implementation phase of a mobile secure communication application together with expectation–confirmation and its influence on continued adoption. The study is explorative in nature and empirically based on thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from pilot users of a mobile secure communication application who work in a governmental organization in Finland. The theoretical basis of the study draws from two well-e…

Ideal types of online shoppers : a qualitative analysis of online shopping behavior

Due to the growing popularity of online shopping, there is a growing demand for understanding the motives and behaviour of online shoppers. This study aims to increase this understanding by examining online shopping behaviour from the perspective of UTAUT2 theory integrated with self-efficacy and risk avoidance components. The thematically analysed data from 31 participants highlights the unique aspects of online shoppers by grouping them into ideal types, presenting the data as extensively as possible. An ideal type is an analytical construct used to ascertain similarities and deviations to concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. This study discovered five ideal types of online shopper…

Digital Coaching among University Students with Low Levels of Physical Activity: A Quantitative Intervention Study on Exercise Self-efficacy

University aged people have been found to be at a high risk of disengagement of physical activity. They also belong to a generation where technology is strongly integrated into most parts of their lives. Therefore, using technology also in physical activity promotion has potential. This exploratory study investigates the perceived effects of a sport and wellness technology digital coach among physically inactive university students during a 10-week intervention. The perspective for the research came from exercise psychology focusing on the effects of the use of a digital coach on self-efficacy related to physical activity and exercising. The results indicate that a digital coach can increas…

Digital Coaching Motivating Towards Physical Activity in Japan During the Covid-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 influenced peoples lives enormously and its impact was also seen in physical activity and exercising. This mixed methods intervention study highlights some of the impact the pandemic had on the physical activity and exercising behaviors of 10 Japanese information systems employees and students. This study also focuses on the influence that using sport and wellness technology digital coaching had on peoples’ physical activity, exercise motivation and exercise self-efficacy during the pandemic. Based on the findings digital coaching can have motivational elements to support people towards a more physically active lifestyle for example by making users more aware of their own physical …

Digital Coaching Motivating Young Elderly People towards Physical Activity

The share of the elderly population is increasing globally, and it is important to help them to maintain their physical activity levels and ability to function to as late an age as possible. This qualitative intervention study focused on the experiences of young elderly on the ability of a sport and wellness technology digital coach to motivate them towards physical activity as well as on what needs and wishes this group has concerning digital coaching solutions. The findings of the study show that young elderly perceive digital coaching as potential in motivating them towards physical activity by providing instructive information and motivational feedback. It was also perceived to have pos…

Sport and Wellness Technology to Promote Physical Activity of Teenagers

Life-long physical activity patterns are established during teenage years, so promoting physical activity is important. Sport and wellness technology has potential for promoting physical activity. Yet, research concerning its use among teenage populations is sparse. This intervention study investigated whether using a sport and wellness technology application could affect teenagers' physical activity intention, its antecedents, and the effects of these antecedents on intention. The study uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) combined with self-efficacy as a theoretical model. The results showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control group in terms o…

Using Digital Coaching to Promote Physical Activity to University Students with Low Levels of Physical Activity : A Qualitative Intervention Study

Activity Trackers Influencing Motivation and Awareness: Study Among Fitness Centre Members

Consumer fitness technology products are becoming increasingly popular. This leads to interesting questions about the influence of activity trackers on a person’s motivation to exercise. This study explored the role of activity trackers in motivating fitness centre members towards exercising and in increasing their awareness regarding their own health and physical activity. The study included 100 fitness centre members divided into a test group and a control group and three sub-groups: OLD, NEW, and personal trainer (PT) members. The focus was on gym visit frequency during a 10-week test period and on tracking the consistency of activity levels. Participants also completed a pre and post st…

Activity trackers and fitness centre members : motivation and awareness

Worldwide, physical activity level of the general population is below what is recommended for achieving a healthy lifestyle. At the same time the use of fitness related products, such as fitness applications for smartphones and wearable activity monitors are increasing, particularly in fitness centre settings. This trend leads to questions about what is the influence of the activity trackers on a person’s motivation to exercise, and whether these devices can contribute to improving the health of the general population. The aim of this research was to explore if wearing an activity tracker (Polar Loop) motivates fitness centre members (SATS ELIXIA) and increases their physical activity parti…