Fitness Trackers May Improve Wellbeing–Even When Users Ignore the Data

By Alli Hill

Fitness trackers may influence how well you feel in ways that have little to do with taking more steps, getting more sleep, or reaching daily goals, according to new research from Curion.

The Curion National Consumer Study surveyed 2,562 U.S. adults in June 2026, including 1,763 confirmed fitness tracker users. Among those, 84% said wearing a tracker, such as an Apple Watch or a Fitbit, improved their overall sense of well-being.

One of the study’s most surprising finds was that users didn’t necessarily have to act on the information to experience a benefit. Sixty-four percent of those who made no behavioral changes based on their tracker data still reported an improved sense of well-being. Eighty-six percent of users who experienced a negative psychological effect from health tracking also said their well-being improved.

The findings suggest fitness trackers may work partly by influencing how people understand their bodies, not simply by encouraging healthier behavior.

“We went in expecting to learn how trackers change behavior, and the data kept pointing to something else,” said Neeta Yousaf, director of strategic communications at Curion. “The people who changed nothing still felt better. The people who had a bad time with it still felt better.”

Physical activity was the behavior users changed most often, with 57% reporting an adjustment based on their tracking data. Sleep schedules followed at 24%, while 22% changed their eating habits. Just 16% altered how they managed stress, and 6% consulted a doctor because of information from a tracker.

Coaching preferences produced another counterintuitive result. Users who preferred positive, encouraging coaching experienced both the highest rate of negative effects (49%) and the greatest overall improvement in well-being (89%). Among the users who preferred no coaching, 21% reported negative experiences and 69% reported improved well-being.

The research may also carry implications for companies outside the wearables market. Consumers increasingly evaluate supplements, sleep aids, recovery drinks, and functional foods after an app has already told them how well they slept or how active they’ve been.

Having a digital assessment via a wearable device may affect what customers purchase. These drivers remain largely invisible in traditional product research. For health and wellness brands, understanding what a consumer’s device has already told them could become just as important as understanding the product they’re considering.