Fun with AEDs: Examining the Effects of a Gamified Mobile Crowdsourcing Application

Abstract

Crowdsourcing applications enable mass collaboration on problem solving by distributing tasks to individual users. However, the success of crowdsourcing relies on active participation of the users and hence requires an effective incentive mechanism. This study presents an application prototype which utilises mobile crowdsourcing for a nationwide automated external defibrillator (AED) database and explores gamification as the sole incentive strategy on it. Based on motivational needs identified in selfdetermination theory (SDT), we conducted a survey study of 160 participants by examining the effects of the gamified mobile crowdsourcing application against a non-gamified version. Results of regression analyses reveal that the gamification influenced how motivational factors, including perceived value, competence and relatedness, drove users' usage intention of the application.