Gotta catch ‘em all or not enough time: Users motivations for playing Pokémon Go™ and non-users’ reasons for not installing
Urban exergames are played in the real-world environment using built-in mobile phone sensors. The influence of Pokémon Go on physical activity and sitting time has been examined previ ously, however limited research has explored motivations for using the application. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore Pokémon Go users’ motivations for using the application, ex users’ reasons for abandoning the game and non-users’ reasons for not installing. After institutional ethical approval, the ‘Physical Activity and Pokémon Go’ questionnaire was developed using QualtricsTM and distributed using social media soon after launch in the United Kingdom (baseline). At baseline a total of 461 par ticipants (n=193 male, n=265 female, n=3 transgender) who were predominantly white (n=420) and did not self-report a disability (n=443) completed the questionnaire. Users’ (n=236) were ques tioned on their motivations for using Pokémon Go and non-users’ provided reasons for not installing. At 3 months a total of 127 par ticipants (n=23 users) completed the questionnaire again and all qualitative data was thematically analyzed. The most commonly reported reason for using Pokémon Go was ‘to have fun’ which was 86% and 83% at baseline and 3 months respectively. The sec ond most frequent reason at baseline was ‘friends were using it’ (58%) and at 3 months was ‘to be outside’ (48%). The least com mon motivation for using Pokémon Go at both baseline and 3 months was ‘to meet new people’ (8% and 0% respectively). At baseline, social motives and competition were two general themes which encapsulated Pokémon Go users’ motivation for using the application. There were two general themes reported by Pokémon Go users’ as to why they did not think they would use the applica tion in the future. These were application related factors and fac tors unrelated to Pokémon Go. Non-users reported a range of rea sons for not using Pokémon Go, including lack of interest and a lack of time. Safety concerns and risk of adverse events were reported by both users and non-users. This is the first study to the matically analyze motives for using Pokémon Go in which the findings are: 1) future smartphone applications aiming to increase physical activity must ensure that objectives evolve to maintain initial interest and motivation to engage with applications; 2) game developers must consider the required phone storage and capability which could be a barrier to downloading; and 3) con cerns of using the application including the safety of users and those around them.
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