Social Media's Influence on Older Adults' Acute Exercise Intentions: A Theory of Planned Behavior Perspective

Social media is a growing source of health information for older adults, including acute exercise guidance. However, the accuracy of this information varies, and older adults may struggle to discern reliable content. OBJECTIVE: By applying the theory of planned behavior (TPM), the objective of this study was to assess the comprehension and intentions of older adults regarding acute exercise information from social media and to identify the influence of inaccurate health content on their exercise behaviors. METHOD: We surveyed 80 physically capable Chinese older adults (M ± SD age in yr = 68 ± 4.5; 65% male), who were regular social media (We chat) users, to explore social media's influence on acute exercise intentions using TPB. We assessed attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control with a Likert-scale questionnaire and validated TPB's predictive capacity for intentions with linear regression. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with a subset of 15 individuals (67±, 2 yr.; 61% male) to gain qualitative insights. RESULTS: The quantitative analysis indicated that positive attitudes towards the information in the media (β: 0.464, 95% CI: 0.245 to 0.683, p < 0.01) and subjective norms (β: 0.201, 95% CI: 0.050 to 0.351, p = 0.01) significantly predicted intentions to engage in acute exercises in the coming year. Perceived behavioral control also exerted a significant positive influence (β: 0.249, 95% CI: 0.059 to 0.440, p = 0.011). Gender did not significantly influence exercise intentions (β: 0.009, 95% CI: -0.127 to 0.145, p = 0.712). Qualitative findings revealed that media portrayals of acute exercise significantly influenced intentions, with participants citing reduced need for caregiver support and expert-shared content as key motivators. CONCLUSION: Social media can positively influence older adults’ intentions to engage in acute exercise through attitudes and subjective norms, highlighting the potential for targeted health media campaigns.