7. Conclusion
7.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
The author is aware of the limitations of this study. First of all, the relatively small sample size was limited to 4 case studies and 7 mobile apps (units of analysis), which could mean that the findings are not generalisable, and also affect the credibility and reliability of the findings. Most importantly, there could be more business and revenue models that are prevalent in the industry, that were not spotted. The small sample size is caused by both the time and structural constraints of this thesis, as well as by difficulties of reaching high-profile interviewees holding managerial positions at successful mental health start-ups - the potential prospects hardly ever had their contact information publicly available, nor had made approaching them on LinkedIn possible. However, the small sample size allowed the author to really delve into each of the case companies and provide a detailed analysis, which, considering the word limit of this thesis, could not have been possible with a bigger sample. Another limitation of this study is presented by the sensitive nature of the topic: since the research questions revolve around the companies’ business and revenue models and the strategic implications behind them, the interviewees inevitably need to be careful with the information they share. The author has reasons to believe that not all the real rationales and challenges were revealed by the interviewees, which also affected the quality of the findings.
In terms of further research on the topic, the author recommends focusing strictly on user retention strategies of mental health apps: interviewing both the marketing and product managers to get
insight into the companies’ strategies in that department. Furthermore, the author suggests taking a more policy-centred approach and looking into the current state, and the possibilities and opportunities of private eHealth and mHealth products and services being reimbursed by health insurance: to what extent is it already happening, what are the barriers, and what are different stakeholders’ perspectives.
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Appendices