Examining the Effects of Feedback-giving as a Gamification Mechanic in Crowd Rating Systems

Abstract

ABSTRACT Crowd rating derives a collective value based on massive homogeneous contributions from individual users, where using gamification design is a promising approach to encouraging users’ motivation and participation. Drawing upon self-determination theory and motivational affordances theory, this study investigates how different gamification objects, as building blocks for feedback-giving mechanics, affect users’ extrinsic and intrinsic motivation (i.e., compensation and enjoyment), which in turn affect their participation intention. We also examined the role of task complexity in moderating the gamified effects of feedback-giving mechanics. We conducted a four (gamification objects: leaderboards, progress, virtual characters, and plain) by two (task complexity: low and high) between-subject experiment with 402 subjects. The results suggested that feedback-giving as a critical gamification mechanic can motivate participants intrinsically or extrinsically. Specifically, leaderboards and progress positively influenced compensation, and leaderboards and virtual characters positively influenced enjoyment. Task complexity moderated the gamified effects of feedback-giving mechanics on compensation and enjoyment. With a higher task complexity, leaderboards even result in a higher level of enjoyment. This research contributes to the theoretical understanding of feedback-giving mechanics in crowd rating systems, and practically, suggests that the design of feedback-giving and task complexity should be effectively integrated to reach compensational and enjoyable motivation to encourage user engagement in crowd rating activities.