How Information System Users' Frustration and Expectancy for Growth Promote the Development of Gamified Virtual Communities: Perspectives of Multiple Theories by Using Longitudinal Designs

Research Problem and Practical Importance: Virtual communities can assist information system (IS) providers to construct a loyal user base. Thus, research investigating how to facilitate the development virtual communities enables IS providers to secure their sustainability and create remarkable revenues, indicating its practical importance. Among recent IS research, gamification emerges as a novel topic. Gamification can satisfy users’ various needs, while also may trigger frustration or instill the expectation to raise the game level, i.e., expectancy for growth. However, little is know about whether and how these factors may impact the development of gamified IS users’ communities, indicating a research gap. In practice, research filling this gap can help IS providers understand mechanisms underlying the formulation of development of virtual communities, and the key factors in such mechanisms, thus assisting them to effectively develop gamified IS to build strongly connected virtual communities.Academic Importance: Gamification is one emerging issue in IS research. Gamification is a popular topic in the recent issues of high quality IS and electronic commerce journals. Therefore, results of this project could help provide IS area the novel knowledge which fits the recent trend and leads the development of the associated studies.Research Purpose: This three-year project is planned to examine how users’ frustration and expectancy for growth in using gamified information systems could impact the development of gamified virtual communities. Multiple theories are used for constructing the models to explain this complex phenomenon. In the first year, social cognitive theory and consistency principle will be used to examine how users’ frustration and expectation for growth impact their compliance to social norms and interdependence among users. Moreover, this project will also examine the moderator roles of self-efficacy, use intensity, and use history. In the second year, flow theory and tri-motivation of gaming theory will be used for examining how interdependence among users and expectancy for growth impact concentration, flow, gaming achievement, and sense of community, thus creating positive expectancy disconfirmation. In the third-year, expectancy disconfirmation theory and social identity theory will be used for examining how positive expectancy disconfirmation can create users’ commitment to and participation in virtual communities. Moreover, this project will examine the roles of sense of community, perceived positive and distinctive image of the communities, and the motivation to promote such image in forming users’ commitment and participation in virtual communities.Research Design: This project will adopt a three-year longitudinal design and use survey methods and observation methods to collect data. Confirmation factor analyses will be used for testing the reliability and validity of the measurement scales. Structural equation modeling will be used for testing the framework and the main effects. The moderating effects will be tested using the orthogonalizing procedure.Significance: This project employs multiple theories. The proposed models are innovative in examining how novel IS could assist developing virtual communities and the underlying mechanisms. Practically, this project can assist designing of gamified IS, supporting the development of virtual communities, enhancing competitiveness, and further promoting the prosperous development of digital economy and electronic commerce in Taiwan.

Project ID:PB10708-2755
External Project ID:MOST107-2410-H182-003