A field experiment on gamification of physical activity – Effects on motivation and steps

Gamification is finding growing application in the field of physical activity, promising engaging and motivating experiences that foster behavioural change. Yet, rigorous empirical work substantiating favourable claims is limited. Our study sought to find evidence for the effects resulting from gamification of physical activity on the users’ motivation, perceived usefulness, and the behavioural change in terms of step counts. We employed a four-week randomised controlled field experiment to investigate how the choice of different gamification designs affects outcomes. Participants were provided with a wearable physical activity tracker and randomly assigned to either a: 1) competitive gamified group; 2) cooperative gamified group; 3) hybrid gamified group; or 4) control group. Data gathered includes a panel dataset of step counts and self-reported data on the users’ intrinsic motivation and perceived usefulness. We found that at the end of the intervention, gamification made no difference to self-assessed intrinsic motivation or perceived usefulness compared to a non-gamified self-tracking experience. Yet, despite the lack of psychological effects, the use of gamification did result in stronger behavioural outcomes relative to the control group - in the form of increased step counts. Indeed, all groups treated with gamification recorded an increase in step counts during the intervention period. Furthermore, amongst the gamified treatments, it was the hybrid design that generated the largest difference in step counts (relative to the control group). The finding that gamification can stimulate a stronger behavioural outcome, but does not evoke a stronger psychological outcome at the end of the intervention merits further investigation as to the mechanisms at play.