Demand for Mobile Health in Developing Countries During COVID-19: Vietnamese's Perspectives from Different Age Groups and Health Conditions

BACKGROUND: Vietnam’s economy and intellectual standards have witnessed significant development, improving conditions for residents to acquire novel mHealth applications. Additionally, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced Vietnamese awareness of healthcare; however, previous studies have only been clinician-centered rather than customer-centered. METHODS: This study addresses this literature gap by interviewing 50 Vietnamese participants grouped by age, namely Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z, and health conditions, namely whether participants or family members have chronic illness. The study utilized semi-structured and in-depth interviews to collect the data and used thematic analysis to analyze the data under the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology framework. RESULTS: Most participants were willing to adopt this technology and demanded a convenient and user-friendly one-stop-shop solution, endorsements from credible and authoritative sources, and professional customer services. However, each group also had distinctive demands and behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study contributes theoretically by providing context-rich demand for Vietnamese customers across three generations and healthcare conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and comparing their behavior with pre-COVID literature. While this research provides helpful information for potential app developers, this study also suggests that mHealth developers and policymakers should pay more attention to the differences in the demand of age groups and health conditions.