Modelling the mass adoption potential of wearable medical devices

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0269256
• Publication Date: 2022-06-08T17:38:52Z
• Authors: Qing Yang; Abdullah Al Mamun; Naeem Hayat; Mohd Fairuz Md. S...; Gao Jingzu; Noor Raihani Zainol
• Keywords: Information Systems and Management; Sociology and Political Science; Technology Acceptance Model; Science; Social Sciences; Business, Management and Accounting; Intention; Anxiety; Structural equation modeling; Decision Sciences; FOS: Economics and business; Wearable Electronic Devices; Surveys and Questionnaires; 0502 economics and business; FOS: Mathematics; Psychology; Understanding Consumer Behavior in Retail Environments; User Acceptance of Information Technology; Marketing; Impact of Social Media on Consumer Behavior; Q; Statistics; 05 social sciences; R; 3. Good health; FOS: Psychology; Perceived Ease of Use; Latent Class Analysis; Medicine; Mathematics; Research Article

Digital technologies empower users to manage their health and reduce the burden on the public health system. The mass adoption of wearable medical devices (WMDs) promotes the ageing population’s confidence besides facilitating users. Thus, the current study aims to empirically evaluate the formation of perceived product value (PPV) with the WMDs’ computability, usefulness, cost, and accuracy, the intention to use WMDs influenced by health consciousness (HCS), health anxiety (HAY), product value, and perceived critical mass (PCM), and later the adoption of WMDs among Chinese adults. The study examined the mediating effect of PPV on the relationship between the intention to use WMDs and perceived compatibility (PCT), perceived cost (PCO), perceived usefulness (PUS), and perceived technology accuracy (PTA). This study adopted a cross-sectional approach and used an online survey to collect quantitative data from 1,160 Chinese adults. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results showed that PCT, PUS, and PTA significant positive effect on PPV. Meanwhile, HCS, PCM, and PPV has a significant positive effect on intention to use WMDs, and the intention to use WMDs and PCM influenced the adoption of WMDs. Consequently, the analysis confirmed that PPV mediated the relationships between the intention to use WMD and PCT, PUS, and PTA. The WMD cost must be reduced to enhance the value of WMDs. Finally, the study’s implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies are discussed.