The Configuration Effect of Antecedents of Effective Use in Mobile Health: A Fuzzy-Set QCA Approach

This study aims to construct a comprehensive framework model to investigate the multifaceted factors influencing the effective use of mobile health applications. Drawing from individual, technological, and environmental factors, we identify six antecedent factors: autonomy, trust, information quality, service quality, legal guarantees and subjective norms. Using Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we analyze configurations among these factors within a sample of 604 Chinese mobile health app users. The study's findings reveal that the configurations of high levels of effective mHealth use can be categorized into three orientations: individual-technological orientation, technological orientation, and individual-environmental orientation. The individual-technological orientation exhibits a higher degree of universality and broader applicability. There is an asymmetry between configurations of non-high effective use and high effective use. This study enhances our comprehension of the factors influencing effective use, offering fresh insights that can be invaluable for management practitioners looking to implement more precise strategies.