Exploring determinants of engagement in the use of IoT for healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic: A fear-driven perspective

Abstract

Our research analyzes how the fear related to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic reinforces the engagement in the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices for healthcare. While prior research has examined the adoption of IoT for healthcare, there is a notable absence of exploration regarding the influence of COVID-19-related factors, such as fear and desire for self-care, on user engagement with IoT devices and their determining factors. A quantitative study using the partial least squares algorithm was conducted to analyze this gap. The mediating role of the desire for self-care between fear and social influences, on the one hand, and engagement in using this technology, on the other, was confirmed by adopting the Macro Process on SPSS.11 SPSS Statistics is a software developed by IBM for advanced statistical analysis. The study results make it possible to put forward several interesting recommendations that facilitate the long-term adoption of the Internet of Things for health. The mediating role of the desire for self-care in the relationship between fear and user engagement explains that IoT users who are afraid of catching COVID-19 will be more concerned about health monitoring, leading them to adopt this technology of IoT devices.

Keywords

• Desire for self-care
• Social influence
• User engagement
• Internet of things for healthcare
• COVID-19