Research on the Influence Mechanism of Gamification Elements on Users' Willingness to Continue Using in Interest-based Virtual Communities ‐‐ Based on ECM-ISC Model

Abstract

Gamification refers to the inclusion of game design elements into non-game environment, which has been widely used in medical health, education and training, marketing activities and other aspects, and can promote users' willingness to continue to participate. At the same time, as an important marketing tool for enterprises, virtual community undertakes the functions of building communication and interaction platform, sharing and releasing information, and improving brand loyalty. With the intensification of virtual community competition among brands, how to improve the users' willingness to continue to participate is the key to the development of virtual community of brands. Firstly, based on the relevant research, this paper constructs a relationship model of gamification elements of virtual community on the intention of continuous use based on the theory of expectation confirmation and Expectation Confirmation Model of IS Continuance (ECM-ISC). Then we collected data through questionnaires, tested the reliability and validity, and used Smartpls to test the model and hypothesis. The results show that, two gamification elements (social and immersive elements) positively influence expectation confirmation and perceived usefulness, which in turn, positively affect user's satisfaction and continuance intention. At the end of this paper, the paper proposes some reasonable suggestions contributing to the development of virtual community and gamification, as well as indicating the direction of future research.