Abstract
PurposeDrawing upon the motivational affordance theory, this paper aims to investigate how gamification design and human motivational needs are associated in extant literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a literature analysis of 60 journal articles that studied motivational influences of gamification in information technology design. Content analysis was used to identify game design features and motivation variables studied in prior literature, and correspondence analysis was used to show the co-occurrence of game design features and basic motivational needs.FindingsThe results showed that four types of game design features and eight basic motivational needs are studied in this pool of literature. Correspondence analysis indicates some interesting associations between game design features and basic human needs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research used a motivational affordance perspective to interpret the impact of game design features and suggested directions for future investigations. It is limited due to its sample size and considered as an exploratory study.Practical implicationsThis research provided suggestions for technology designers that game design features vary in their motivational influence, and therefore, game design features should be used accordingly to meet users’ motivational needs.Originality/valueThis research is one of initial studies which explored the association between game design features and basic motivational needs. The findings of this study provide the groundwork for guidelines and strategies to facilitate motivational design in information technology.
Highlights
Motivation refers to what gives behavior its energy and direction (Ryan and Deci, 2000)
The findings of this study provide the groundwork for guidelines and strategies to facilitate motivational design in information technology
To understand the underlying mechanism of user behavior in technology interaction, researchers who are interested in the motivational perspective have raised questions such as “why do people initiate, continue, stop, or avoid using technology,” “why do such behaviors vary in intensity” and “how can our understandings of people’s behaviors and their intensity help us design desirable technology that people want to use.” (Zhang, 2008a)
Summary
Motivation refers to what gives behavior its energy and direction (Ryan and Deci, 2000). A motivational perspective has become increasingly popular and uncovered the drive for technology use (Zhang, 2008a). Knowing how to effectively motivate users to adopt and continue using information technology has become a critical issue for researchers and practitioners. Quantified measurements such as points, leaderboards and levels are found to have positive effects on user participation (Halan et al, 2010), though researchers are concerned that these game elements may only increase participants’ extrinsic motivation in the short-term period, with diminishing effects in the long run (Lee et al, 2013). Research has even found that badges and leaderboards had negative impacts on motivation and student performance in an educational project (Hanus and Fox, 2015). Leaderboards may demotivate low-ranked participants and lead to possible negative effects on overall outcomes (Ipeirotis and Gabrilovich, 2015; Massung et al, 2013; Preist et al, 2014)
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