Exploring the effect of platform gamification on users’ intermittent discontinuance: An ambivalence perspective

Lingling Yu (), Ruixuan Li () and Shuo Cheng ()
Additional contact information
Lingling Yu: Shanghai University
Ruixuan Li: Shanghai University
Shuo Cheng: Renmin University of China

Electronic Markets, 2025, vol. 35, issue 1, No 48, 16 pages

Abstract: Abstract Adding gamification elements to non-gamified platforms has become increasingly pervasive. Nevertheless, our understanding of the real psychological state of users during their game participation and how gamification design affects these users’ behaviors remains limited. Guided by cognitive dissonance theory and by using the case of Ant Forest, a typical gamification platform in China, we build a research model to investigate the effects of visibility of achievement and privacy concerns on gamification platform users’ psychology and behaviors. We conduct a questionnaire survey on 265 users with Ant Forest usage experience. Empirical results show that visibility of achievement, privacy concerns, and their interaction lead to users’ ambivalence, which in turn leads to intermittent discontinuance. This study introduces the ambivalence perspective to extend the research on the psychological state of gamification platform users from one to two dimensions. This study also links the antecedents and outcomes of ambivalence to examine its systematic impact on users’ intermittent discontinuance from a broader perspective and to provide valuable insights for operators and designers that guide them in developing platforms that meet users’ needs and foster their engagement.

Keywords: Platform gamification; Ambivalence; Intermittent discontinuance; Cognitive dissonance theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12525-025-00805-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:elmark:v:35:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s12525-025-00805-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ystems/journal/12525

DOI: 10.1007/s12525-025-00805-8

Access Statistics for this article

Electronic Markets is currently edited by Rainer Alt and Hans-Dieter Zimmermann

More articles in Electronic Markets from Springer, IIM University of St. Gallen
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().