The role of gamification, social, hedonic and utilitarian values on e-commerce adoption

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing intention to continue using and spreading the word of mouth for e-commerce applications in the gamification context. Design/methodology/approach Using primary data from an online questionnaire, 219 users of e-commerce applications who played games on e-commerce platforms were gathered as the sample of the research and analysed using structural equation modelling. Findings The results showed that network exposure from gamification significantly influenced social influence, recognition and reciprocal benefit. However, only social influence and utilitarian shaped attitudes, leading to the intention to continue using the e-commerce platform and spread word of mouth. Recognition, reciprocal benefit and hedonic shopping motivation were not found to significantly influence attitude. Practical implications This study provides practical recommendations for e-commerce applications in implementing gamification into their platforms. Originality/value This study delivers a better understanding of the implementation of gamification in e-commerce by examining the in-game social interactions and the shopping behaviour in e-commerce to continue using the platform and spread the word of mouth about the gamification method.