Understanding the dark side of gamified interactions on short-form video platforms: Through a lens of expectations violations theory

Abstract

Short video games saw explosive growth and due to their rich content and strong communication features have provided a new marketing platform for corporate commercial activities. However, few studies have examined how to implement a gamification strategy on short-form video platforms. Based on Expectation Violation Theory, this study explored the impacts of three aspects of users' gamification interaction expectation violations on negative use behavior. By collecting and analyzing two waves of data with 320 matched samples, this study revealed that reward expectation violation, achievement expectation violation, and competition expectation violation of users' gamified interactions could predict negative use behaviors. Psychological resistance and emotional exhaustion mediated the effects of gamification expectation violations on users' negative use behaviors. Further, moral licensing negatively moderated the influence of gamification expectation violations on psychological resistance, but the moderation effect of moral licensing between gamification expectation violations and emotional exhaustion was not significant.