Gamification narrative design as a predictor for mobile fitness app user persistent usage intentions: a goal priming perspective

ABSTRACT

Many users fail to stick to the use of mobile fitness apps. As a key element of gamification mechanisms, effective gamification narrative design has the potential to draw the users in and motivates them to develop stronger motivations to achieve their real-world goals and higher persistent usage intentions of the mobile fitness App. Underpinned by goal priming theory, we conducted two controlled experiments, surrounding core aspects of gamification narrative design, namely narrative path agility and narrative target clarity. The results, which revealed that different forms of gamification narrative design impact users’ real-world fitness purpose and persistent usage intentions through different strategies, provide interesting implications for both theory and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Gamification
• narrative path agility
• narrative target clarity
• immersion
• persistent usage intentions
• mobile fitness app

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the editors and the reviewers for their constructive advices for improving our study.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [71771046, 71671033and 71971052]; Humanities & Social Sciences Foundation of China MOE [17YJC630061]; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [N2006006]; Project ofPromoting Talents in Liaoning Province [XLYC1807252].