Gamified Giving: Contingent Effects of Leaderboard Rankings on Donation Behavior in Online Medical Crowdfunding

Abstract

Online medical crowdfunding has emerged as a vital resource for patients seeking public assistance. As a common gamification design, leaderboards play a crucial role in boosting users’ donation intention. Grounded in motivational affordance and social influence theories, this study investigates how different leaderboard types and rankings influence donation through the underlying mechanism of sense of self-worth. A 2 (leaderboard ranking: high vs. low) × 2 (leaderboard type: public vs. social leaderboard) between-subject laboratory experiment was conducted to validate our research model. The results reveal that high rankings enhance users’ donation intentions by boosting their sense of self-worth. This positive effect is more pronounced in public leaderboards than in social ones. Additionally, donation experience negatively moderates the positive effect of sense of self-worth on donation intention. This study contributes to the literatures on online crowdfunding and gamification design with practical implications for fundraising strategies.

Keywords: online medical crowdfunding, leaderboards, donation intention, donation experience