Leveraging Intrinsic Motivation and Readiness to Change to Address User Attrition in Digital Self-Control Tools: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Nudge Reconfiguration Interventions

Digital self-control tools have emerged as technological interventions to address excessive smartphone usage and promote digital wellbeing. However, these tools face persistent challenges with user attrition and sustained engagement, compromising their long-term effectiveness. Current literature lacks understanding of the psychological mechanisms that drive user retention and meaningful interaction with DSCTs, particularly how intrinsic motivation and readiness to change influence sustained engagement patterns. This study investigates how intrinsic motivation and readiness to change, operationalized through users' daily goal priorities and observable behaviors, can be strategically leveraged to address user attrition in DSCTs and sustain user-nudge interactions to promote digital wellbeing over time. We conducted a quasi-experimental study (n=252) targeting passive users at risk of churning from a DSCT mobile application. Participants were randomly assigned to receive an invitation to reconfigure their nudge settings during daily check-ins (experimental group, n=138) or to a control condition (n=114, no intervention). The experimental group was further classified into acceptance and rejection subgroups based on their response to the intervention. Data collection included system usage logs, self-reported questionnaire responses, and semi-structured user interviews. We analyzed user-nudge interaction ratios, nudge configuration parameters, daily goal selections, and behavioral patterns using t-tests and Cohen's d for effect sizes, at P