Ideal Types of Sport and Wellness Technology Users

Abstract

A demand exists for the increasing understanding of consumers’ motives and habits related to exercising and the influence of sport and wellness technology on everyday lives. This study aims to shred light to the different types of users of sport and wellness technology by examining the influential aspects of sport and wellness technology and gamification. By thematically analyzing data from 16 indepth interviews, one group interview, and one set of observation, the study highlights the unique characteristics of the sport and wellness technology users by grouping them into ideal types that represents data as extensively as possible. An ideal type is an analytical construct to ascertain deviations and similarities of concrete cases in an individual phenomenon. This study discovered five ideal types of sport and wellness technology users: On-Off Exercisers, Confidence Seekers, Intrinsic Exercisers, Performance Improvers, and Sport Addicts. The formed ideal types are the main theoretical contribution of this study. The main practical contribution follows from suggesting the characteristics of sport and wellness technologies that are most important for each ideal type and the related gamification aspects. The providers of these technologies can utilize these insights in determining the technologies most suitable for each ideal type.