Although older adults’ adoption rates of smartphones have continued to increase in recent years, health-related apps are not widely accepted by older adults. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to explore older adults’ adoption behavior of mobile health (mHealth) apps in the U.S. Specifically, this study applied protection motivation theory (PMT; Rogers, 1975) as the theoretical base to explain older adults’ adoption process of health apps to understand the influences of threat and coping appraisals on older adults’ adoption behavior of health apps. In addition, the current study incorporated the technology readiness theory (Parasuraman, 2000) to understand the influences of older adults’ positive and negative technological readiness (TR) on their PMT components. Data were collected from older adults (n = 600; 60% female) aged over 55 in the U.S. using online survey questionnaires. The data analysis was conducted using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings suggest the impact of coping appraisals on older adults’ attitudes toward mHealth apps and their (continuance) intention to use mHealth apps. Especially among PMT’s four appraisal components, response efficacy was the most critical underlying mechanism driving mHealth app-related attitude and behavioral intention. In addition, older adults’ beliefs about using mHealth apps (i.e., TR) significantly influenced their coping appraisal processes, while positive TR was more critical in forecasting their coping appraisals. The results suggest a need to classify older consumers into different segments based on their TR to develop differentiated marketing strategies. The findings also suggest that marketers understand various protective motivation components concerning the use of mHealth apps among older adults.

On the basis of the protection motivation theory (PMT) research model, this study employed perceived moral obligation as a determinant to improve predictions of people’s intention to engage in energy savings and carbon reduction behavior aimed at mitigating the threat of environmental climate change through their protection motivation. The sample comprised 930 participants who completed self-reported questionnaire surveys in Taiwan. The empirical results of structural equation modeling indicated that the extended PMT model was more explanatorily powerful than the original model. The results not only confirmed that people’s perceived moral obligation plays a crucial antecedent role in predicting their intention to engage in energy savings and carbon reduction behavior but also verified the mediation effects of protection motivation in the extended PMT model.