On the body of the consumer: performance-seeking with wearables and health and fitness apps Mariann (Maz) Hardey Advanced Research Computing (ARC), Durham University Business School, Durham, UK Abstract Contributing to critical digital health research and the sociology of health consumption, this study investigates the phenomenon of self-tracking and interpretation of consumer data via wearable technology and mobile fitness software applications (apps). It critically analyses qualitative data collected from members of running communities in the UK who are heavy users of apps and wearables. The study seeks to understand the meaning and practise of long-term use of apps and wearables targeted at consumers interested in tracking fitness, and the collection of personal health information over time. The paper offers an interpretative perspective on runners as performance-seeking fitness consumers engaged in long-term self-management of health. These consumers are driven by a profound motivation to visualise and embody a long-term state of fitness. Participants were also hyper-aware of advertising and promotional methods used to engage consumers. The findings raise concerns about the validity of personal fitness data, and how its collection promises improved personal health while visually promoting sought-after fit bodies. Further research is required to understand the transformative impact of fitness-tracking and how individuals negotiate personal classifications of health. Keywords: self-tracking, personal analytics, biometrics, health, fitness apps, mHealth Introduction The rise of a digital network society has allowed personal and social information to be easily combined. While collections of personal health data have existed for decades, today searchable digital databases generate ever-growing records on individuals’ lifestyle and health activities. In this context, the health and medical industry is one of the top three fields in the global mHealth (‘mobile health’: mobile social applications and wearable tech) market, expected to reach US$111.8 billion by 2025 (Grand View Research 2017). Fifty-eight per cent of smart- phone users are consumers of mHealth data, regularly accessing and storing health information on their devices (Krebs and Duncan 2015). The mHealth concept sees self and body entwined in an emerging philosophy (and promotion) of digital self-care (Pantzar and Ruckenstein 2015, Sharon 2017). Thus, mHealth plays a powerful and intensifying role in shaping participatory, personalised health practices and, as I will argue, producing new fitness classifications. Despite the centrality of digital data in everyday life, little has been written about habitual use of commercial mHealth technology as a context for achieving a ‘healthy body’. This paper addresses this gap, investigating long-term, dedicated wearable and app consumption to © 2019 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Sociology of Health & Illness Vol. xx No. xx 2019 ISSN 0141-9889, pp. 1–14 doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12879