Connecting with active people matters: The influence of an online community on physical activity behavior

M Groenewegen; D Stoyanov; Dirk Deichmann; A van Halteren

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35386-4_8

Connecting with active people matters: The influence of an online community on physical activity behavior

M Groenewegen, D Stoyanov, Dirk Deichmann, A van Halteren

Research output: Chapter/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › Academic › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of online social networks as means to motivate people to become more physically active. Based on a data set from 4333 participants we show that the activity level of people that participated in the online community (for 14 weeks) is significantly higher compared to people that choose not to become a member of that community. Detailed analyses show that the number of contacts in the online community does not have a significant effect on the physical activity level while network density even has a significant, negative effect. On the other hand, the activity level of a participant is higher when his or her friends also have a high average activity level. This effect is even higher when a participant’s amount of friends increases. Theoretical and managerial implications concerning the impact of online social networks on offline behavior are discussed.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Place of Publication	Berlin
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Pages	96-109
Volume	7710
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35386-4_8
Publication status	Published - 2012
Externally published	Yes

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10.1007/978-3-642-35386-4_8

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title = "Connecting with active people matters: The influence of an online community on physical activity behavior",

abstract = "This paper discusses the impact of online social networks as means to motivate people to become more physically active. Based on a data set from 4333 participants we show that the activity level of people that participated in the online community (for 14 weeks) is significantly higher compared to people that choose not to become a member of that community. Detailed analyses show that the number of contacts in the online community does not have a significant effect on the physical activity level while network density even has a significant, negative effect. On the other hand, the activity level of a participant is higher when his or her friends also have a high average activity level. This effect is even higher when a participant{\textquoteright}s amount of friends increases. Theoretical and managerial implications concerning the impact of online social networks on offline behavior are discussed.",

author = "M Groenewegen and D Stoyanov and Dirk Deichmann and {van Halteren}, A",

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doi = "10.1007/978-3-642-35386-4_8",

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T1 - Connecting with active people matters: The influence of an online community on physical activity behavior

AU - Groenewegen, M

AU - Stoyanov, D

AU - Deichmann, Dirk

AU - van Halteren, A

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - This paper discusses the impact of online social networks as means to motivate people to become more physically active. Based on a data set from 4333 participants we show that the activity level of people that participated in the online community (for 14 weeks) is significantly higher compared to people that choose not to become a member of that community. Detailed analyses show that the number of contacts in the online community does not have a significant effect on the physical activity level while network density even has a significant, negative effect. On the other hand, the activity level of a participant is higher when his or her friends also have a high average activity level. This effect is even higher when a participant’s amount of friends increases. Theoretical and managerial implications concerning the impact of online social networks on offline behavior are discussed.

AB - This paper discusses the impact of online social networks as means to motivate people to become more physically active. Based on a data set from 4333 participants we show that the activity level of people that participated in the online community (for 14 weeks) is significantly higher compared to people that choose not to become a member of that community. Detailed analyses show that the number of contacts in the online community does not have a significant effect on the physical activity level while network density even has a significant, negative effect. On the other hand, the activity level of a participant is higher when his or her friends also have a high average activity level. This effect is even higher when a participant’s amount of friends increases. Theoretical and managerial implications concerning the impact of online social networks on offline behavior are discussed.

UR - http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-35386-4_8

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DO - 10.1007/978-3-642-35386-4_8

M3 - Conference proceeding

VL - 7710

SP - 96

EP - 109

BT - Lecture Notes in Computer Science

PB - Springer-Verlag

CY - Berlin

ER -

Connecting with active people matters: The influence of an online community on physical activity behavior

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