Virtual reality (VR) sports games have the potential to positively influence intentions and attitudes towards sport. This study adopted a between-subjects design with 71 sport and exercise science university students to compare two modes of a VR golf game – Traditional Golf and Gamified Golf – against a non-sport VR game (Control). Intention and attitude towards golf were measured at baseline (four weeks prior to the intervention), immediately after a 20-min VR session, and at four-week retention. Perceptions relating to the VR gameplay were also obtained post-intervention. Results found that intentions towards golf did not change across time for any of the three groups. However, a significant time x group interaction was found for attitude towards golf. Specifically, the Gamified Golf group showed a decrease in attitude from baseline to post-intervention, whereas the Traditional Golf and Control groups showed no meaningful change. Analysis of the gameplay perceptions found that the Gamified Golf was perceived as being significantly easier and less effortful than the Traditional Golf. These findings suggest that gamification in VR golf may oversimplify the real-world experience of the sport and coincide with less favourable attitudes within this likely sport-engaged student cohort. These results are surprising given prior evidence supporting gamification principles. Nevertheless, we recommend that practitioners and stakeholders carefully consider that gamification may, in some contexts, have unintended effects on individuals’ intentions and attitudes toward sport. Future research should test whether these effects replicate in more diverse participants (e.g., varying in age and baseline sport engagement) before generalising to wider populations.
Wilkins et al. (Wed,) studied this question.