Quantification of Self in Third‐Party‐Administered Wellness Programs: The Impact of Perceived Self‐Empowerment

George Pettinico, George R. Milne and Elizabeth G. Miller

Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2020, vol. 54, issue 1, 159-176

Abstract: Employers, insurers, and other third parties are increasingly offering wellness programs and have recently begun incorporating quantification of self (QOS) features to encourage enrollment. While past studies have examined the impact of QOS on consumer behavior in self‐directed contexts, none have done so in the context of third‐party administration. The present research explores QOS's impact in wellness programs directed by employers, insurers and doctors. A 2 x 4 between‐subjects experiment manipulating QOS and program administration type was used to test our hypotheses. Our results found a significant interaction effect between QOS and administration type, where the motivational benefits of a QOS‐based wellness program that are found in self‐directed contexts are negated when the program is run by certain third parties. This effect is mediated by the participant's perceptions of disempowerment in the program, caused by the involvement of the third party. Consumer policy implications are discussed.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12250

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:54:y:2020:i:1:p:159-176

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0022-0078

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Consumer Affairs is currently edited by Sharon Tennyson

More articles in Journal of Consumer Affairs from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().