Drivers of users’ intention to keep using wearable healthcare technologies

While wearable healthcare technologies (WHTs) are rapidly gaining acceptance, it is crucial to analyze the reasons contributing to the continued use of these technologies since many customers tend to abandon their devices after a short usage period. This study proposes and empirically tests a framework that augments the technology acceptance model (TAM) with extra explanatory power gained by integrating the investment model (IM) and the task-technology fit (TTF) model. The framework suggests explaining users’ intention to keep using WHTs by four key constructs extracted from the three models, namely ease of use, usefulness, commitment level, and task-technology fit. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze 431 valid responses. The findings showed that usefulness, commitment level, and task-technology fit had a significant direct effect on users’ intention to keep using their current WHTs, while ease of use had an insignificant effect. Furthermore, the findings showed that integrating TAM, IM, and TTF provided more insights into the contributing factors that drive the intention to keep using the current WHTs. Additionally, the findings emphasize the impact of the wearables’ technological features on users’ intentions to continue using the devices. The integration of the three models provided complementary explanatory power and illustrated how better insights, regarding users’ technology acceptance, could be gained by integrating three well-established theories, namely TAM, IM, and TTF.