Rethinking Healthcare Technology Adoption: The Critical Role of Visibility & Consumption Values
Sonali Dania, Yogesh Bhatt, Paula Danskin Englis
This study explores how the visibility of digital healthcare technologies influences a consumer's intention to adopt them, using the Theory of Consumption Value (TCV) as a framework. It investigates the roles of different values (e.g., functional, social, emotional) as mediators and examines how individual traits like openness-to-change and gender moderate this relationship. The research methodology involved collecting survey data from digital healthcare users and analyzing it with structural equation modeling.
Problem
Despite the rapid growth of the digital health market, user adoption rates vary significantly, and the factors driving these differences are not fully understood. Specifically, there is limited research on how consumption values and the visibility of a technology impact adoption, along with a poor understanding of how individual traits like openness to change or gender-specific behaviors influence these decisions.
Outcome
- The visibility of digital healthcare applications significantly and positively influences a consumer's intention to adopt them. - Visibility strongly shapes user perceptions, positively impacting the technology's functional, conditional, social, and emotional value; however, it did not significantly influence epistemic value (curiosity). - The relationship between visibility and adoption is mediated by key factors: the technology's perceived usefulness, the user's perception of privacy, and their affinity for technology. - A person's innate openness to change and their gender can moderate the effect of visibility; for instance, individuals who are already open to change are less influenced by a technology's visibility.
Host: Welcome to A.I.S. Insights — powered by Living Knowledge. In a world buzzing with new health apps and wearable devices, why do some technologies take off while others flop? Today, we’re diving into a fascinating new study that offers some answers. Host: It’s titled "Rethinking Healthcare Technology Adoption: The Critical Role of Visibility & Consumption Values", and it explores how simply seeing a technology in use can dramatically influence our decision to adopt it. To help us unpack this, we have our expert analyst, Alex Ian Sutherland. Alex, welcome. Expert: Great to be here, Anna. Host: Alex, let's start with the big picture. The digital health market is enormous and growing fast, yet getting users to actually adopt these new tools is a real challenge for businesses. What’s the core problem this study wanted to solve? Expert: You've hit on the key issue. We have a multi-billion-dollar market, but user adoption is inconsistent. Companies are pouring money into developing incredible technology, but they're struggling to understand the final step: what makes a consumer say "yes, I'll use that"? This study argues that we've been missing a few key pieces of the puzzle. Expert: Specifically, how much does the simple "visibility" of a product—seeing friends or influencers use it—actually matter? And beyond its basic function, what other values, like social status or emotional comfort, are people looking for in their health tech? Host: So, it's about more than just having the best features. How did the researchers go about measuring something as complex as value and visibility? Expert: They took a very practical approach. The research team conducted a detailed survey with over 300 active users of digital healthcare technology in India. They asked them not just about the tools they used, but about their personal values, their perceptions of privacy, their affinity for technology, and how much they saw these products being used around them. Expert: They then used a powerful statistical method called structural equation modeling to map out the connections and find out which factors were the true drivers of adoption. It’s like creating a blueprint of the consumer’s decision-making process. Host: A blueprint of the decision. I love that. So what did this blueprint reveal? What were the key findings? Expert: The first and most striking finding was just how critical visibility is. The study found that seeing a health technology in the wild—on social media, used by friends, or in advertisements—had a significant and direct positive impact on a person's intention to adopt it. Host: That’s the power of social proof, right? If everyone else is doing it, it must be good. Expert: Exactly. But it goes deeper. Visibility didn’t just create a general sense of popularity; it actively shaped how people valued the technology. It made the tech seem more useful, more socially desirable, and even created a stronger emotional connection, or what the study calls 'technology affinity'. Host: So, seeing it makes it seem more practical and even cooler to use. Was there anything visibility *didn't* affect? Expert: Yes, and this was very interesting. It didn't significantly spark curiosity, or what the researchers call 'epistemic value'. People weren't adopting these apps just to explore them for fun. They needed to see a clear purpose, whether that was functional, social, or emotional. Novelty for its own sake wasn't enough. Host: And what about individual differences? Does visibility work on everyone the same way? Expert: Not at all. The study found that personality traits play a big role. For individuals who are naturally very open to change—your classic early adopters—visibility was far less important. They are intrinsically motivated to try new things, so they don't need the same external validation. The buzz is for the mainstream audience, not the trendsetters. Host: Alex, this is where it gets really crucial for our audience. What are the practical, bottom-line business takeaways from this study? Expert: I see four main takeaways for any leader in the tech or healthcare space. First, your most powerful marketing tool is making the *benefits* of your product visible. Go beyond ads. Focus on authentic user testimonials, case studies, and partnerships with trusted professionals who can demonstrate the product's value in a real-world context. Host: So it’s about showing, not just telling. What's the second takeaway? Expert: Second, understand that you are selling more than a function; you're selling a set of values. Is your product about the functional value of efficiency? The social value of being seen as health-conscious? Or the emotional value of feeling secure? Your marketing messages must connect with these deeper motivations. Host: That makes a lot of sense. And the third? Expert: The third is about trust. The study showed that as visibility increases, so do concerns about privacy. This was a huge factor. To succeed, companies must make their privacy and security features just as visible as their product benefits. Be transparent, be proactive, and build that trust from day one. Host: An excellent point. And the final takeaway? Expert: Finally, segment your audience. A one-size-fits-all message will fail. As we saw, early adopters don't need the same social proof as the mainstream. The study also suggests that men and women may respond differently, with marketing to women perhaps needing to focus more on reliability and security, while messages to men might emphasize innovation and ease of use. Host: Fantastic. So, to summarize: Make the benefits visible, understand the values you're selling, build trust through transparency on privacy, and tailor your message to your audience. Host: Alex, this has been incredibly insightful. Thank you for breaking down this complex research into such clear, actionable advice. Expert: My pleasure, Anna. It’s a valuable piece of work that offers a much-needed new perspective. Host: And thank you to our listeners for joining us on A.I.S. Insights — powered by Living Knowledge. We'll see you next time.
Adoption Intention, Healthcare Applications, Theory of Consumption Values, Values, Visibility
