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Perception of Physical Activity Leaderboards

Perception of Physical Activity Leaderboards

Digital health tools to promote physical activity frequently incorporate leaderboards, to encourage physical activity by activating social comparison processes (self-evaluation relative to others). However, the acceptability and utility of leaderboards to the general population remain unclear.

Dr. Kayla Nuss, Klein Buendel Scientist, collaborated on a set of research studies led by Rowan University to compare leaderboard display formats and their relationship to physical activity motivation. The significance, methods, analysis, and findings of the two studies are detailed in the journal Digital Health.

One hundred forty-five (145) young adults from the United States (Study 1) and 1,510 adults from Germany and Austria (Study 2) evaluated two common leaderboard display formats and provided explanations for preferences. Participants also reported their physical activity motivation following exposure to fixed (Study 1) or randomized (Study 2) leaderboard placements. Open-ended responses were analyzed using content analysis and sentiment analysis in Python.

Familiarity with leaderboards was low (Study 1: 43%; Study 2: 19%) and display preferences varied. Approximately 43-49% across both studies reported high physical activity motivation post-leaderboard exposure. Both analytic methods showed that these participants subsequently expressed a range of perceptions of physical activity leaderboards (positive, negative, and neutral). Further, ∼21% of each sample reported low motivation for physical activity after exposure, yet their perceptions ranged from rejecting competitive comparisons to recognizing that leaderboards could benefit others. Sentiment analysis further revealed that participants who reported no display preference expressed the most negative sentiment, regardless of their motivation.

Findings demonstrate considerable heterogeneity in adults’ perceptions of physical activity leaderboards, even among those who experience high motivation for physical activity following leaderboard exposure. Because a single ideal format may not meet all users’ needs, personalized designs that account for individual factors may better support long-term engagement with digital health tools and sustained physical activity.

This research was supported by an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (HL173857; Dr. Danielle Arigo, Principal Investigator) and Klein Buendel. Collaborators include Ninelle Edenne, Raj Harsora, Angelica Rivera, and Dr. Danielle Arigo from Rowan University; Dr. Laura Konig from the University of Vienna; and Dr. Kayla Nuss from Klein Buendel.

Technology, Social Media and Behavior Change

Technology, Social Media and Behavior Change

Klein Buendel (KB) Senior Scientist, Dr. Valerie Myers, was an invited presenter at The Colorado Cancer Coalition Annual Symposium held November 8-9, 2018 in Lakewood, Colorado. The mission of the Coalition is to eliminate the burden of cancer in Colorado. This year’s symposium, Elevating Personalized Cancer Care in Colorado, shared updates on innovative cancer care in Colorado and provided education and networking opportunities for professionals who work in cancer prevention, control, treatment, and survivorship.

Dr. Myers spoke about Technology, Social Media and Behavior Change in a session on Using Technology and Social Media to Advance Your Mission. She addressed multiple types of mHealth and eHealth technologies and the research behind their use in implementing health behavior change programs. Using her active research project Caminemos Juntas as an example, she was able to showcase how a smartphone app like Caminemos Juntas can be used to help Latina women overcome barriers to physical activity.

Dr. Myers said, “The benefit of technologies and digital health tools is that they have the capacity to be used in the real world with real people. That is their appeal.” She also stressed the importance of the use of digital technologies saying, “People who normally wouldn’t have access to empirically based and theory driven interventions now have access to them, so it really promotes the ability for scale up. I think this is where individual clinical trial-based health and public health come together really well, because you can translate what’s been done in rigorous trials and get it to the people to see if you can move the needle on these health behaviors.”

In addition to its importance, Dr. Myers said that digital health technologies such as mHealth and eHealth are “the way to get interventions in the hands of people that may never have been exposed to this messaging. If it can reach those individuals who have been neglected traditionally by health intervention and also meet people in a place where they feel comfortable and safe and are ready for change, then that excites me.”

KB scientists and staff have been active members of the Colorado Cancer Coalition and its Skin Cancer Task Force for over a decade.