What Makes Consumers Adopt a Wearable Fitness Device?: The Roles of Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Factors

Wearable fitness devices are equipped with internet connectivity and capable of tracking, storing, and transmitting health data. A research model is proposed and tested, which shows how cognitive, affective, social, and motivational consumer factors affect the intention to adopt wearables, respectively. The antecedents of these factors are also studied, including perceived usefulness, ease of use, and effectiveness for cognitive factors; positive and negative feelings for affective factors; perceived number of users, number of peers, and social images for social factors. An online survey was conducted among 297 non-wearable-users in the U.S. to collect data. Structural equation modeling was used to test the intention model. The results showed that three factors—cognitive, affective, and motivational—emerged as key determinants of consumers' intention to adopt wearables, with affective factors showing the most explanatory power. The role of the price factor was also revealed. Theoretical and business practical implications are discussed based on the current findings.