Ekuruorhore Kehinde Anita

The relationships between wearable technology, self-efficacy and consumers’ wellbeing

Supervisors: Professor Llyod Harris and Dr Raphael Akamavi

Email: ake080@student.bham.ac.uk

Research Overview

The present economy is becoming increasingly saddled with concerns about the reduction in the day-to-day physical activities of individuals. Currently, the UK population is about 20% less active now compared to the 1960s and if this trend continues, by 2030, they will be 35% less active (Public Health England, 2016). Moreover, this consistent reduction in physical activity has resulted in a proliferation of incommunicable diseases such as obesity and high blood pressure (Wilde et al., 2018). Scholars argue that these diseases can result to a rise in medical costs and a decline in the population’s productivity (Wilde et al., 2018).

Nonetheless, innovation has led to the unveiling of wearable technologies, capable of combatting these diseases by encouraging an increase in physical activities (Pope et al., 2019), and reducing healthcare costs. However, evidence from extant literature indicates the absence of research on wearable technology, self-efficacy and consumers’ wellbeing (McColl-Kennedy et al., 2017, Sturts and Gupta, 2018). Hence, this study aims at exploring the impact of wearable technology on self-efficacy and consumers’ wellbeing. It is expected that this study will drive healthy, sustainable goals in the lives of the UK population, which will in turn enhance their use of wearable devices, improve their overall wellbeing, reduce NHS healthcare costs, and equally increase productivity.

References

McColl-Kennedy, J.R., Snyder, H., Elg, M., Witell, L., Helkkula, A., Hogan, S.J. and Anderson, L., 2017. The changing role of the health care customer: review, synthesis and research agenda. Journal of Service Management.

Pope, Z.C., Barr-Anderson, D.J., Lewis, B.A., Pereira, M.A. and Gao, Z., 2019. Use of wearable technology and social media to improve physical activity and dietary behaviors among college students: A 12-week randomized pilot study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(19), p.3579.

Public Health England, 2016. Health matters: getting every adult active every day. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-getting-every-adultactive-every-day/health-matters-getting-every-adult-active-every-day.

Sturts OMS-II, A. and Gupta DO, A., 2018. Wearable Fitness Tracking Improves Self-Efficacy for Exercise.

Wilde, L.J., Ward, G., Sewell, L., Müller, A.M. and Wark, P.A., 2018. Apps and wearables for monitoring physical activity and sedentary behaviour: A qualitative systematic review protocol on barriers and facilitators. Digital health, 4, p.2055207618776454.