Identifying motivational factors felt from watching videos on a home fitness Instagram account

Abstract

Background: 27.5% of people worldwide do not engage in sufficient physical activity (Guthold et al., 2018). Prior to the research, a home fitness Instagram account (HFIA) was created by the researcher to encourage physical activity participation. Literature indicated potential in using social media to generate exercise motivation. However, such research was not extensive and most were of quantitative nature. Aim: The objective of the research was to identify motivational factors that individuals felt from their interaction with the HFIA. Findings could thereby be used to move forward the field of study in social media and exercise motivation. Method: The research adopted a qualitative design methodology. Data was collected via semi-structured, face to face interviews with participants, till information saturation. 8 participants were interviewed in total. The inclusion for criteria for participants was if they demonstrated active followership with the HFIA. Results: Of eight participants, • Three felt motivated by follow along videos and increased physical activity participation • Three felt motivated by the knowledge of exercise convenience • A majority indicated laziness and lack of companionship as demotivational factors Conclusions: Ultimately, no conclusive results indicated a generic motivational factor through interaction with the HFIA. However, follow along videos were discussed to likely invoke feelings of intrinsic motivation and appeared key to be studied more in depth. YouTube was also suggested to be used as a social media platform instead, as it could reach a wider target audience. Keywords: social media, exercise motivation, participation, physical activity