Examination of consumers using smartwrists/watches within the framework of self-tracking practices

Self-tracking includes the practices individuals use to monitor and record health parameters, physical activities, and/or behaviors. People often use wearable technologies such as smartwrists/watches to track and analyze their bodily data. However, the consumer behavior aspect of self-tracking and the technologies enabling it have not been adequately explored in current literature. In addition, these studies primarily focus on specific groups rather than examining the everyday practices and experiences of daily consumers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the daily practices and experiences of consumers who engage in self-tracking using smartwrists or watches. Thus, information about daily practices of 14 participants was gathered through semi-structured interviews, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. According to findings, five main themes were identified, namely purchase intention, data interpretation, social environment, motivation, and abandonment/re-purchase. This study explored reasons for self-tracking, the self-tracking process as a whole, the benefits of self-tracking, and its impact on self-development. It was also highlighted that self-tracking creates prosumers; and transforms body, life, and health into consumable objects. Finally, contributions and limitations of the current research were evaluated and some recommendations for the future studies were provided.