Toward a Hierarchical Understanding of Affordance Actualization: Multilevel User-Technology Interaction in Fitness Apps
Moayad Alshawmar, Bengisu Tulu, Adrienne Hall‐Phillips, E. Vance Wilson · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · 2026
Affordance actualization theory has become central to understanding user–technology interaction, yet information systems (IS) research has largely treated affordances as independent or simultaneously actualized, offering limited insight into their potential hierarchical structure. Drawing on Gibson conception of nested affordances, this study theorizes and empirically validates a hierarchical model of affordance actualization in the context of fitness applications. Using survey data from 442 Fitbit users and a PLS-SEM structural modeling framework, we show that foundational affordances support learning affordances, which support the actualization of motivational and, ultimately, social identity affordances. The results provide strong evidence for a layered actualization process, wherein each affordance level creates conditions that support the actualization of higher-level affordances. This hierarchical structure advances affordance actualization theory within IS by reconceptualizing hierarchical relationships as supporting conditions rather than strict prerequisites, and by demonstrating that the strength of these supporting relationships varies systematically across layers in ways that reflect how directly each layer relates to the next. Practically, the findings suggest that fitness app designers should ensure foundational and learning affordances are robust and well-grounded, as the quality of higher-level affordances depends substantially on the informational and experiential conditions created at lower levels.