2013 - 2017

As social networking technologies have advanced, the place where social interaction occurs has expanded through diverse social channels that connect a huge network of human resources. While the opportunities for users to connect with potential mediators who can influence the maintenance of other people’s behavior change have increased, little work exists on the social influence of those mediators and how the relationship between mediators and social channels, as well as mediators' roles and different qualities of social interaction, impact the maintenance of health behavior changes. Thus, this PhD research aims to establish a social reinforcement framework in health IT services in order to suggest guidelines for designing effective health IT services that help users to maintain their health behaviors. After a social reinforcement framework is established, an example case of health IT service using a social reinforcement framework will be developed and revised iteratively, reflecting the users' evaluations.