Apps as a curse and a blessing: Understanding the paradox of customer experience with the use of mHealth technology
(A2025-126435)

AUTHORS

Olga Tsoumani, Radboud University; Bas Hillebrand, Radboud University; Vera Blazevic, Radboud University Nijmegen; Csilla Horvath, Institute for Management Research, Radboud University

ABSTRACT

MHealth technologies for health and fitness purposes are gaining popularity among customers. However, despite the promising benefits of mHealth, many customers do not fully embrace these technologies as revealed by the diminishing usage following their adoption. Considering the discrepancy between the widespread enthusiasm over the adoption of mHealth and their lack of sustained usage after their adoption, this paper focuses on customer experience with the usage of mHealth. By adopting a paradox theoretical lens, it explores the intertwined relationships between positive and negative experiences emerging from the usage of mHealth and their implications for mHealth usage. Through a qualitative study with 41 mHealth customers, the findings of this study reveal the experience of three knotted, tensions which bring to the fore a paradox inherent in the usage of mHealth – the paradox of “enabled vs. restrained agency”. Our findings also show how customers attempt to cope with paradoxical tensions, providing insights into how the experience of tensions impacts sustained usage.