Digital health communities: The effect of their motivation mechanisms

Sulin Ba, Lei Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

Health-related online social networks are starting to play a role in many people's daily lives by enabling them to monitor their diet and motivating them to change their lifestyles. These social networks provide different motivation mechanisms. However, little research has been done on the effectiveness of these motivation mechanisms. This research analyzes data collected from a digital health community to examine what mechanisms can help motivate people. The results suggest that there is a high level of correlation between users' exercise activities and their participation in these digital health communities. This research benefits the digital health communities by providing insights into the design of motivation mechanisms.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)941-947
Number of pages7
JournalDecision Support Systems
Volume55
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Management Information Systems
  • Information Systems
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Information Systems and Management

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