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

34 Pages Posted: 17 Sep 2024

See all articles by Yi Wu

Yi Wu

Tianjin University - College of Management and Economics

Leping Xiao

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Zhongtao Hu

Hebei University of Technology

Na Liu

The University of Sydney Business School

Nan Feng

Tianjin University - College of Management and Economics

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

Suggested Citation

Wu, Yi and Xiao, Leping and Hu, Zhongtao and Liu, Na and Feng, Nan, Gamified Giving: Contingent Effects of Leaderboard Rankings on Donation Behavior in Online Medical Crowdfunding. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4958758 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4958758

Yi Wu

Tianjin University - College of Management and Economics ( email )

NO.92 Weijin Road
Nankai District
Tianjin, 300072
China

Leping Xiao

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

No Address Available

Zhongtao Hu (Contact Author)

Hebei University of Technology ( email )

Tianjin
China

Na Liu

The University of Sydney Business School ( email )

University of Sydney
Sydney, NC 2006
United States

Nan Feng

Tianjin University - College of Management and Economics ( email )

NO.92 Weijin Road
Nankai District
Tianjin, 300072
China

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