Construal level theory in digital health: How consideration of future consequences bridges health beliefs and the intention to use fitness apps

Objective Although technology-related cognitive determinants have been documented as predictors of behavioural intentions to use fitness applications (apps), research has given less attention to health-related cognitive factors. Examining these factors offers a fuller understanding of drivers of fitness app use. The temporal nature of weight management highlights the need for a time-oriented mindset to reinforce these relationships. This study integrates Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC), grounded in Construal Level Theory (CLT), as a higher-order framework linking health cognitions—perceived susceptibility (PSU), perceived severity (PSE), implicit theories of weight management (ITWM), and health consciousness (HC)—to intention to use fitness apps. Methods Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected from 302 Chinese fitness app users (43.7% male, 56.3% female) through a snowball sampling method. Hayes’ PROCESS macro was employed to test the mediation hypotheses. Results PSU (r = .230), PSE (r = .212), and HC (r = .523) were directly related to intention, whereas ITWM showed no significant relationship (r = .100). CFC partially mediated the relationships of PSU (0.183, 95% CI [0.107, 0.267]), PSE (0.249, 95% CI [0.164, 0.343]), and HC (0.253, 95% CI [0.154, 0.348]) with intention. However, CFC did not mediate the relationship between ITWM and intention (0.059, 95% CI [-0.003, 0.114]). Conclusion Integrating PSU, PSE, ITWM, and HC with CFC, this study advances a framework explaining how cognitive factors and future-oriented thinking shape the psychological mechanisms underlying intention to use fitness apps. Practically, developers can tailor features to health beliefs and CFC, while health communicators may emphasise long-term benefits to promote fitness technology.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Digital Health

• Publication date

  2025-05-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Computer Science, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1177/20552076251390310PMID 41234613PMCID 12605902
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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