Ensuring the sustainability of sadaqah based crowdfunding platforms: The role of gamification and user experience

Abstract

The inception of technology in the financial world has spawned many innovative financial activities, including crowdfunding. Since the emergence of crowdfunding, fundraising activities have flourished, enabling the implementation of many innovative projects and businesses, including agricultural projects. However, it is a major challenge for a crowdfunding platform to maintain the flow of donations. Most crowdfunding platforms lose half of their donors after their first donation. Therefore, this study proposes the use of gamification to increase and maintain individuals' donations on a crowdfunding platform. In addition, this study also examines the role of user experience as a mediating variable between gamification and donor intention on the crowdfunding platform. Data for this research were collected through a survey using a structured, self-administered questionnaire and involving 148 Muslim donors. Hypothesis testing revealed that gamification positively influences user experience, but not donation intention on a crowdfunding platform. Meanwhile, user experience successfully plays a mediating role. Thus, the results lead to a discussion on the justification of using gamification and suggestions for future research.