Mobile apps can motivate us to walk more
Walking is a simple and healthy way to maintain your health. But few of us actually walk the right number of steps per day. Mobile health applications (so-called mHealth services) come to the rescue, which monitor activity and help take care of well-being. However, how effective they really are depends on how they motivate the user. The results of the study were published in the Journal of Transport & Health.
A researcher from Osaka Municipal University, Dr. Haruka Kato, studied how different types of rewards in such applications affect the habit of walking more. The focus is on the Japanese HealthSmart-Senboku app, created for residents and visitors of the Senboku New Town area.
This app offers unusual bonuses: users receive digital rewards for the number of steps per day. They can be exchanged either for coupons at local stores or for train tickets on the Senboku Line (owned by the Nankai Railway).
Here’s what the analysis showed in five months:
- Users who exchanged steps for tickets started walking an average of 626 more steps per day.
- And those who chose coupons for purchases added an average of 715 steps per day.
According to Dr. Kato, such incentives not only help to increase physical activity, but also encourage the use of public transport. This is especially important for the development of modern healthy cities, where a comfortable environment and an active lifestyle become part of everyday life.
Thus, even a simple idea — to give the user a choice of how to spend their steps — can significantly change people’s behavior towards a healthier and more conscious one.
Published
July, 2025
Category
New technologies
Duration of reading
1—2 minutes
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