Fun Shopping: A Randomized Field Experiment on Gamification

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ho, Yi-Jen (Ian); Liu, Siyuan; Wang, Lei
• 署名单位: Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park
• 刊物名称: INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7047
• DOI: 10.1287/isre.2022.1147
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 766-785
• 关键词: SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY; Intrinsic motivation; age-differences; TECHNOLOGY; engagement; classroom; badges; satisfaction; FRAMEWORK

摘要

Gamification utilizes game-like features to engage participants, widely implemented in a variety of contexts. Such an IT-enabled engagement strategy serves as a marketing device to boost sales and customer loyalty. This study focuses on two significant game elements (i.e., badges and leaderboards) that promote consumer motivations and social comparisons. To qualify the impacts, we conduct a randomized field experiment at one of the largest shopping malls in Asia. In the experiment, we contrast the two elements against coupons regarding various shopping outcomes. A two-period design (consisting of the treatment and posttreatment periods) identifies the long-term behavior changes after the treatment removals. The main results suggest that badging and leaderboarding promote sales by 21.5% and 22.5% in the treatment period, respectively, whereas couponing delivers a more potent effect of 31.7%. In the posttreatment period, the gamification impacts remain significant compared with the baseline, but the influence of couponing fades out. Besides, the additional analyses document the salient heterogeneous treatment effects across demographics. We further discover the substantial differences in the withingroup heterogeneity across the treatments. Specifically, badging is a balanced tool for attracting the general public, whereas leaderboarding is a double-edged sword that could encourage self-reinforcing or self-banishing. Finally, gamification bringsmore explorations that lead to additional sales and engagements. Overall, the robust results can be translated into actionable strategies to utilize gamification proactively.