IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v228y2020ics0925527320302139.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Deploying gamification to engage physicians in an online health community: An operational paradox

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Jianwei
  • Zhang, Xiaofei
  • Meng, Fanbo
  • Lai, Kee-hung

Abstract

Physicians' active engagement is a critical part of sustaining online health communities (OHCs) development. Gamification design can be leveraged to invoke physicians' gameful experience, better motivating their engagement in OHCs. However, it can also create inequality of economic returns among physicians, causing harm to these communities. Drawing on this operational paradox, this paper empirically examines both positive and negative effects of gamification on physicians and the contingent role of disparity in professional seniority on their engagement and inequality of economic returns, to advance knowledge of such practices. Although gamification design engages physicians and increases their income, the results indicate increased economic inequality among the physicians as a consequence. Considering physician's higher professional seniority in the same department, it weakens the positive effect of gamification design on their engagements but strengthens such effect on economic inequality. Managers are advised to carefully plan their gamification design in order to promote physician engagement in OHCs and avoid the related paradoxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Jianwei & Zhang, Xiaofei & Meng, Fanbo & Lai, Kee-hung, 2020. "Deploying gamification to engage physicians in an online health community: An operational paradox," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:228:y:2020:i:c:s0925527320302139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107847
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527320302139
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107847?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gosseries, Axel P., 2004. "Are Seniority Privileges Unfair?," Economics and Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(2), pages 279-305, October.
    2. Bastian Ravesteijn & Hans van Kippersluis & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2018. "The wear and tear on health: What is the role of occupation?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 69-86, February.
    3. J. H. Jung & Christoph Schneider & Joseph Valacich, 2010. "Enhancing the Motivational Affordance of Information Systems: The Effects of Real-Time Performance Feedback and Goal Setting in Group Collaboration Environments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(4), pages 724-742, April.
    4. Andreas Fagereng & Luigi Guiso & Davide Malacrino & Luigi Pistaferri, 2016. "Heterogeneity in Returns to Wealth and the Measurement of Wealth Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 651-655, May.
    5. Xiongfei Cao & Dan Wang, 2018. "The role of online communities in reducing urban–rural health disparities in China," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 69(7), pages 890-899, July.
    6. Harhoff, Dietmar & Henkel, Joachim & von Hippel, Eric, 2003. "Profiting from voluntary information spillovers: how users benefit by freely revealing their innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1753-1769, December.
    7. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    8. Robson, Karen & Plangger, Kirk & Kietzmann, Jan H. & McCarthy, Ian & Pitt, Leyland, 2015. "Is it all a game? Understanding the principles of gamification," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 411-420.
    9. Xin, Jenny Y. & Yeung, Andy C.L. & Cheng, T.C.E., 2010. "First to market: Is technological innovation in new product development profitable in health care industries?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(1), pages 129-135, September.
    10. Chee Wei Phang & Atreyi Kankanhalli & Bernard C. Y. Tan, 2015. "What Motivates Contributors vs. Lurkers? An Investigation of Online Feedback Forums," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 773-792, December.
    11. Lo, Chris K.Y. & Yeung, Andy C.L., 2018. "Quality management standards, institutionalization and organizational implications: A longitudinal analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 231-239.
    12. Patrick J. Bateman & Peter H. Gray & Brian S. Butler, 2011. "Research Note ---The Impact of Community Commitment on Participation in Online Communities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 841-854, December.
    13. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    14. Constantine Andriopoulos & Marianne W. Lewis, 2009. "Exploitation-Exploration Tensions and Organizational Ambidexterity: Managing Paradoxes of Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 696-717, August.
    15. Darby, Michael R & Karni, Edi, 1973. "Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 67-88, April.
    16. Bichescu, Bogdan C. & Bradley, Randy V. & Smith, Antoinette L. & Wei, Wu, 2018. "Benefits and implications of competing on process excellence: Evidence from California hospitals," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 59-68.
    17. Yang, Yefei & Zhang, Xiaofei & Lee, Peter K.C., 2019. "Improving the effectiveness of online healthcare platforms: An empirical study with multi-period patient-doctor consultation data," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 70-80.
    18. Stark, Oded & Taylor, J. Edward & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1988. "Migration, remittances and inequality : A sensitivity analysis using the extended Gini index," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 309-322, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bitrián, Paula & Buil, Isabel & Catalán, Sara, 2021. "Enhancing user engagement: The role of gamification in mobile apps," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 170-185.
    2. Chauhan, Ankur & Jakhar, Suresh Kumar & Jabbour, Charbel Jose Chiappetta, 2022. "Implications for sustainable healthcare operations in embracing telemedicine services during a pandemic," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Zhang, Zhiyun & Zhang, Ziqiong & Liu, Sen & Zhang, Zili, 2024. "Are high-status reviewers more likely to seek anonymity? Evidence from an online review platform," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Dzandu, Michael D. & Hanu, Charles & Amegbe, Hayford, 2022. "Gamification of mobile money payment for generating customer value in emerging economies: The social impact theory perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ni Huang & Gordon Burtch & Bin Gu & Yili Hong & Chen Liang & Kanliang Wang & Dongpu Fu & Bo Yang, 2019. "Motivating User-Generated Content with Performance Feedback: Evidence from Randomized Field Experiments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 327-345, January.
    2. Gen-Yih Liao & Tzu-Ling Huang & Alan R. Dennis & Ching-I Teng, 2024. "The Influence of Media Capabilities on Knowledge Contribution in Online Communities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 165-183, March.
    3. Colm Harmon & Claire Finn & Arnaud Chevalier & Tarja Viitanen, 2006. "The economics of early childhood care and education : technical research paper for the National Economic and Social Forum," Open Access publications 10197/671, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    4. Solomon Asfaw & Silvio Daidone & Benjamin Davis & Josh Dewbre & Alessandro Romeo & Paul Winters & Katia Covarrubias & Habiba Djebbari, 2012. "Analytical Framework for Evaluating the Productive Impact of Cash Transfer Programmes on Household Behaviour – Methodological Guidelines for the From Protection to Production Project," Working Papers 101, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    5. Katherine Campbell & Cullen F. Goenner & Matthew Notbohm & Adam Smedema, 2022. "Political ideology and CEO performance under crisis," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 329-359, January.
    6. Yuqi Peng & Mark Ferguson & Övünç Yılmaz, 2023. "Airline revenue management around sporting mega-events: an application using data from the Super Bowl XLIX," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(3), pages 188-200, June.
    7. Candon, David, 2018. "The effect of cancer on the labor supply of employed men over the age of 65," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 184-199.
    8. Xitong Li & Hongwei Zhu & Luo Zuo, 2021. "Reporting Technologies and Textual Readability: Evidence from the XBRL Mandate," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(3), pages 1025-1042, September.
    9. Brito, Ricardo D., 2012. "Inflation targeting did make a difference in industrial countries' inflation and output growth," Insper Working Papers wpe_272, Insper Working Paper, Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa.
    10. Anupam Nanda, 2005. "Property Condition Disclosure Law: Does 'Seller Tell All' Matter in Property Values?," Working papers 2005-47, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2006.
    11. Victor Chernozhukov & Kaspar Wüthrich & Yinchu Zhu, 2021. "An Exact and Robust Conformal Inference Method for Counterfactual and Synthetic Controls," Journal of the American Statistical Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 116(536), pages 1849-1864, October.
    12. Nkonya, Ephraim & Phillip, Dayo & Mogues, Tewodaj & Pender, John & Yahaya, Muhammed Kuta & Adebowale, Gbenga & Arokoyo, Tunji & Kato, Edward, 2008. "From the ground up: Impacts of a pro-poor community-driven development project in Nigeria," IFPRI discussion papers 756, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Jeffrey Smith & Arthur Sweetman, 2016. "Viewpoint: Estimating the causal effects of policies and programs," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(3), pages 871-905, August.
    14. Chad D. Meyerhoefer & Muzhe Yang, 2011. "The Relationship between Food Assistance and Health: A Review of the Literature and Empirical Strategies for Identifying Program Effects," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(3), pages 304-344.
    15. Akari, Mohamed-Ali & Ben-Abdallah, Ramzi & Breton, Michèle & Dionne, Georges, 2021. "The impact of central clearing on the market for single-name credit default swaps," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    16. Dmitry Arkhangelsky & Guido Imbens, 2023. "Causal Models for Longitudinal and Panel Data: A Survey," Papers 2311.15458, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    17. Marios Kokkodis & Theodoros Lappas & Sam Ransbotham, 2020. "From Lurkers to Workers: Predicting Voluntary Contribution and Community Welfare," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 607-626, June.
    18. Kai Zhu & Dylan Walker & Lev Muchnik, 2020. "Content Growth and Attention Contagion in Information Networks: Addressing Information Poverty on Wikipedia," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 491-509, June.
    19. Apeti, Ablam Estel & Combes, Jean-Louis & Minea, Alexandru, 2024. "Inflation targeting and fiscal policy volatility: Evidence from developing countries," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    20. Bustinza, Oscar F. & Vendrell-Herrero, Ferran & Gomes, Emanuel, 2020. "Unpacking the effect of strategic ambidexterity on performance: A cross-country comparison of MMNEs developing product-service innovation," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:228:y:2020:i:c:s0925527320302139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.