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.

摘要

人群评分基于个人用户的大量同质贡献得出集体价值，其中使用游戏化设计是鼓励用户积极性和参与的一种很有前途的方法。本研究借鉴自我决定理论和动机可供性理论，研究了不同的游戏化对象作为反馈机制的基石如何影响用户的外在和内在动机（即补偿和享受），进而影响他们的参与意愿. 我们还研究了任务复杂性在调节反馈机制的游戏化效果中的作用。我们对 402 名受试者进行了四个（游戏化对象：排行榜、进度、虚拟角色和普通）两个（任务复杂性：低和高）的受试者间实验。结果表明，反馈作为一种关键的游戏化机制可以从内在或外在地激励参与者。具体而言，排行榜和进步对薪酬产生积极影响，而排行榜和虚拟角色对享受产生积极影响。任务复杂性缓和了反馈机制对补偿和享受的游戏化影响。由于任务复杂性更高，排行榜甚至会带来更高水平的乐趣。这项研究有助于对人群评分系统中反馈机制的理论理解，并在实践中表明，反馈给予的设计和任务复杂性应该有效地结合起来，以达到补偿和愉快的动机，以鼓励用户参与人群评分活动。