Iris Publishers_Journal of Textile Science & Fashion Technology (JTSFT)

The Use of Mobile Apps for Health and Fashion Management in South Korea

Abstract

The use of mobile apps for body and appearance management to promote health and well-being has grown rapidly in recent years. The objectives of this study are to define a relation between health care and appearance management and understand the objective of using mobile health apps and fashion styling apps for the design and development of new apps. This study was conducted on Koreans in their 20s and 30s, residing in Seoul and around, from April to June 2018. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25. A close affinity was discovered between the users of mobile apps for health and fashion styling. They used the apps for getting new information and checking their condition to plan future steps. It needs to move in a wormlike manner both health app and fashion styling apps for the efficiency revitalization of digitalization in well-being promotion.

Keywords: App; Well-being; Health care; Fashion styling

Abbreviations: App (Application)

Introduction

With the recent emphasis on balancing work and life, Warraval’s life, which stands for Work and Life Balance, has become a trend. This atmosphere shows that in modern times, people tired of materialism are taking health and happiness as their main values in life, paying attention to ways to improve their quality of life. Wellbeing in adults is a very complex and multidimensional element. Therefore, the improvement of quality in life is directly related to the improvement of satisfaction with life. For this reason, wellbeing starts from physical and psychological health and satisfaction with it.

McAuley et al. (2005) [1] suggest that physical activity is a pathway to improve self-esteem, which in turn leads to a successful and satisfying life and improves well-being. Physical activity and self-efficacy grow through a virtuous cycle of influence, which affects physical condition and physical esteem represented by the attractive body and physical strength. Thus, physical self-esteem affects overall self- esteem. Appearance management behavior through physical activity and fashion can be an effective alternative to well-being, improving overall self-esteem by increasing the satisfaction with not only physical condition and physical strength but also the attractiveness of the body [2-4].

In this trend, various digital media have recently provided ways to utilize and expand health and personal tastes. As a representative example, with the use of smartphones expanding to a nationwide level, there has been a growth of services provided in mobile applications or apps. According to a study by Stoyanov et al. [5], mobile apps have a social interest in health and well-being, and there are 440 million health-related apps worldwide, with a 5% annual growth rate. In addition, with the steady growth of the smartphone market, health information and various contents related to it play an effective role as a medium to check their health anytime and anywhere. In addition, various ways to make people look more attractive and beautiful, weight loss guides provided by fitness magazines, and how to build a healthy and beautiful body are constantly being developed as mobile apps [6

Fashion apps are no exception. The application of fashion apps has expanded into a full-fledged fashion styling function. Thus, fashion brands at home and abroad show fashion brand information through their apps; including the brand collections, catalogs and look books that change every season, and the types and quantities of fashion items that change in real time. This leads to fashion brand advertising and sales effects such as sales growth, brand awareness, and customer management. As mentioned above, this positive effect of fashion apps is expected. Existing studies of fashion apps have been mainly focused on classifying types according to the function of fashion apps. It is necessary for new research to define the elements of the fashion app to improve various services and the purpose of using the fashion app user rather than only classifying the types of apps by the functions.

In addition, it is meaningful to examine the correlation between fashion and health- which is more closely related to the body-together with the positive outlook for the digital fashion and healthcare industry. Therefore, in this study, we want to investigate the changes needed in fashion apps in order to activate the digital fashion industry and to expand the usefulness and utilization of the smart phone app that can be effectively accessed in terms of physical, health care and appearance management.

The objectives of this study are as follows:

1. First, to clarify the main purpose of using healthcare apps and fashion styling apps for young Koreans in their 20s and 30s.

2. Second, to identify the relationship between healthcare app and fashion styling app users.

3. Third, to provide the requirements for fashion app development in the future that can be effectively approached in relation to physical health care and appearance management through fashion.

Development and Status of Mobile App

App, in its dictionary form “application,” means “of a particular use.” The software term app echoes this, indicating a program that is designed for a particular use. The smartphone app is a mobile program capable of two- way communication, it is always portable and easy to update, so you can receive new information quickly and conveniently in real time [7]. Furthermore, according to the 2017 Korea Social Indicators released by the National Statistical Office, Korea’s smartphone subscription rate is 90.6%-the highest worldwide [8]. Along with the increase in the number of smartphone subscribers, the use of apps on smartphones is steadily increasing. Among them, the highest interest and utilization of smart phone users is in health-related apps. According to data released by market research firm Statista, the global digital health market is expected to reach $144 billion in 2018. The domestic digital healthcare market has also grown at an annual average of 12.5% from 3 trillion won in 2014 and is expected to grow to 14 trillion won by 2020. In particular, the mobile health sector recorded the highest growth rate among the average annual growth rate of the healthcare sector, with a growth rate of 41% [9]. Likewise, in the digital health field, the health app shows a high growth rate and a positive outlook for the future [10].

Regarding the use of such a health app, BinDhim, et al. [11] presented the efficiency of health management through the App. They explain that 93% of mobile health app users are more effective at losing weight than health care providers who use websites (55%) or pagers (53%). In addition, encouraging them to manage their own health through mobile apps can help reduce errors in following medical prescriptions. Therefore, the future development of the Health App should focus on a software solution that analyzes, processes and produces useful information by accumulating health information, collected either by the health device or through direct input by the user. Therefore, it is worth noting that the health app’s service consists of the core competency of the health care app to perform data, measurement, and analysis behavioral suggestion on the factors that may affect health in lifestyle behavior.

Healthcare App

In the case of the “S Health” App, the configuration allows users to check the recommended exercise amount according to a personal profile and select a goal suited to their preference. In addition, the S Health App provides tips for achieving the goal by recording activities such as diet, fitness, and exercise. In the main screen, you can check the exercise status and the recent health status according to the target. In addition to exercise activities, a variety of information such as nutritional balance scores can be recorded to set up a balanced lifestyle pattern [12]. LG Health also offers similar functions but is trying to differentiate itself with the “drinking water” function. In the case of “drinking water,” you set how much you want to drink per day in “Setting your daily health goal” and then set the interval to drink water in the “Notification” screen to induce health check. Google Health combines information from other apps such as OSWear OS by Google, Nike +, Runkeeper, Strava, MyFitnessPal, Lifesum, Basis, Sleep as Android, Withings, and Xiaomi Mi bands. It is supposed to be able to track. Google Health’s Google Fit is a kind of data central repository because it allows you to receive and share health information generated by various healthcare apps. You can send data generated by devices like Gear Fit and Nike Fuel band to Google Fit. The biggest difference from other health apps is that Google Fit makes use of integrated health data to its fullest and uses various fashion sports companies such as Nike and Adidas as partners.

As people’s desire to improve their health has increased with their growing interest in and expectation for quality of life, the App market has offered medical care, including exercise, diet control, chronic disease information and management, women’s health care, and personal health information management. It can be seen that various apps related to health and health are leading the digital market [13]. Providing user input and providing additional information through analysis of results. The data industry essentially determines the profitability of the entire industry because the amount and size of data determines the profitability of the entire industry [14]. As Nike and Adidas are already trying to make fashion a part of entertainment, the integration of health and fashion apps can be a very effective strategy, following this trend.

Fashion Styling App

Recently, as the interest in smartphones is increasing worldwide, including in Korea, fashion companies are participating in app development. With the expansion of digital fashion, the spread of fashion apps is preparing for the popularization of fashion beyond access to fashion information, sales, and fashion shows. This gives the public a chance to find their style more easily. Park, et al. [7] summarized the functions of the Fashion Styling App into seven functions. First, a basic information function that provides brand information and information such as price, size, color, etc. Second, quick communication with customers through Facebook and Twitter accounts. Third, coordinating with an avatar or taking a picture of yourself and then putting clothes on your picture to coordinate AR functions (Augmented Reality). Fourth, outdoor fashion, is a LBS function (Location Based Service) that provides a function to leave. Fifth, additional entertainment features including music listening, weather information, and diet programs. Sixth, mobile shopping functions. And finally, live streaming, which provides scarcity value by providing fashion show videos.

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