Factors Impacting the Anticipated Pleasure of Potential Physical Activity Experiences

The regular performance of physical activity (PA) is associated with global health benefits, both physical and mental. However, most adults are not physically active. Furthermore, among the adults that do become physically active, most do not maintain this activity level over time. Increasing the pleasure associated with an activity increases the likelihood of maintaining that activity long-term. One possible way to make physical activities more pleasant is to create programs or activities based on characteristics that participants anticipate being most pleasurable instead of characteristics that bring the most health benefit.

To date, manipulating PA intensity is known to significantly affect the pleasure of being physically active. However, the effect of other PA characteristics on pleasure remains uninvestigated. The overall purpose of this dissertation is to develop a better understanding of the factors that are believed to impact the anticipated pleasure of potential PA experiences.

Specifically, this dissertation aims to: (1) provide a comprehensive literature review of previous pleasure-related PA research, including a review of the methodology used in the current study (conjoint analysis and audience segmentation), and (2) present an empirical investigation into the relative impact of selected characteristics (activity intensity, physical context, and social context) on the anticipated pleasure of potential PA experiences and how the impact differs by audience segment based on PA involvement. The findings from this study will provide a basis from which experimental manipulations of PA characteristics may be tested in order to maximize pleasure associated with PA, and how these manipulations can be customized for individuals that vary in terms of their level of PA involvement.