IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i5p858-d212382.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using Gamification and Social Incentives to Increase Physical Activity and Related Social Cognition among Undergraduate Students in Shanghai, China

Author

Listed:
  • Dandan Mo

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

  • Mi Xiang

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China
    These authors contribute equally to this work.)

  • Mengyun Luo

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China
    School of Public Health, and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

  • Yuanyuan Dong

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China
    Child Health Advocacy Institute, Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China)

  • Yue Fang

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China)

  • Shunxing Zhang

    (Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, NY 10583, USA)

  • Zhiruo Zhang

    (School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China)

  • Huigang Liang

    (College of Business, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA)

Abstract

Gamification and social incentives are promising strategies to increase the effectiveness of web-based physical activity (PA) interventions by improving engagement. In this study, we designed a PA intervention integrating gamification and social incentives based on the most popular social networking service in China, WeChat. A controlled trial involving 52 Chinese undergraduate students was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Subjects in the intervention group received a 7-week intervention. PA behavior and related social cognitive variables according to the theory of planned behavior were measured at the baseline and after the intervention. Daily physical activity duration was measured during the intervention. The results showed that PA-related subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intention, as well as self-reported vigorous physical activity and moderate physical activity in the intervention group, were increased after the intervention, compared with the control group ( p <0.05). During the intervention, perceived daily physical activity duration in the intervention group was on the rise, while it declined in the control group ( p <0.001). The findings indicate that WeChat-based intervention integrating gamification and social incentives could effectively increase subjectively measured PA and related social cognition among Chinese undergraduate students and that it is a promising way to ameliorate the problem of insufficient PA among youths.

Suggested Citation

  • Dandan Mo & Mi Xiang & Mengyun Luo & Yuanyuan Dong & Yue Fang & Shunxing Zhang & Zhiruo Zhang & Huigang Liang, 2019. "Using Gamification and Social Incentives to Increase Physical Activity and Related Social Cognition among Undergraduate Students in Shanghai, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-17, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:5:p:858-:d:212382
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/858/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/858/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    2. Xianglong Xu & Yang Pu & Manoj Sharma & Yunshuang Rao & Yilin Cai & Yong Zhao, 2017. "Predicting Physical Activity and Healthy Nutrition Behaviors Using Social Cognitive Theory: Cross-Sectional Survey among Undergraduate Students in Chongqing, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Supa Pengpid & Karl Peltzer & Hemant Kassean & Jacques Tsala Tsala & Vanphanom Sychareun & Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, 2015. "Physical inactivity and associated factors among university students in 23 low-, middle- and high-income countries," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(5), pages 539-549, July.
    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. Sanying Peng & Fang Yuan & Ahmad Tajuddin Othman & Xiaogang Zhou & Gang Shen & Jinghong Liang, 2022. "The Effectiveness of E-Health Interventions Promoting Physical Activity and Reducing Sedentary Behavior in College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    2. Monika Boguszewicz-Kreft & Sylwia Kuczamer-Kłopotowska & Arkadiusz Kozłowski & Ali Ayci & Mohammd Abuhashesh, 2020. "The Theory of Planned Behaviour in Medical Tourism: International Comparison in the Young Consumer Segment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, March.

    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. Maria Andersson & Ola Eriksson & Chris Von Borgstede, 2012. "The Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Source Separation in the Work and Home Settings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Tran Huy Phuong & Thanh Trung Hieu, 2015. "Predictors of Entrepreneurial Intentions of Undergraduate Students in Vietnam: An Empirical Study," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(8), pages 46-55, August.
    3. Clara Cardone-Riportella & María José Casasola-Martinez & Isabel Feito-Ruiz, 2014. "Do Entrepreneurs Come From Venus Or Mars? Impact Of Postgraduate Studies: Gender And Family Business Background," Working Papers 14.04, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting (former Department of Business Administration), revised Sep 2014.
    4. Peng Cheng & Zhe Ouyang & Yang Liu, 0. "The effect of information overload on the intention of consumers to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    5. Ruijie Zhu & Guojing Zhao & Zehai Long & Yangjie Huang & Zhaoxin Huang, 2022. "Entrepreneurship or Employment? A Survey of College Students’ Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Alsalem, Amani & Fry, Marie-Louise & Thaichon, Park, 2020. "To donate or to waste it: Understanding posthumous organ donation attitude," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 87-97.
    7. Pan, Jing Yu & Liu, Dahai, 2022. "Mask-wearing intentions on airplanes during COVID-19 – Application of theory of planned behavior model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 32-44.
    8. Benoît Lécureux & Adrien Bonnet & Ouassim Manout & Jaâfar Berrada & Louafi Bouzouina, 2022. "Acceptance of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: A Literature Review of stated choice experiments," Working Papers hal-03814947, HAL.
    9. Jacqueline Ruth & Steffen Willwacher & Oliver Korn, 2022. "Acceptance of Digital Sports: A Study Showing the Rising Acceptance of Digital Health Activities Due to the SARS-CoV-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Jariyasunant, Jerald & Carrel, Andre & Ekambaram, Venkatesan & Gaker, David & Sengupta, Raja & Walker, Joan L., 2012. "The Quantified Traveler: Changing transport behavior with personalized travel data feedback," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt3047k0dw, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Brown, Philip & Roper, Simon, 2017. "Innovation and networks in New Zealand farming," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(3), July.
    12. Teodora Roman, 2009. "Study regarding entrepreneurial intentions among students," THE YEARBOOK OF THE "GH. ZANE" INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCHES, Gheorghe Zane Institute for Economic and Social Research ( from THE ROMANIAN ACADEMY, JASSY BRANCH), vol. 18, pages 87-94.
    13. Messele Kumilachew Aga, 2023. "The mediating role of perceived behavioral control in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Kristin Thomas & Evalill Nilsson & Karin Festin & Pontus Henriksson & Mats Lowén & Marie Löf & Margareta Kristenson, 2020. "Associations of Psychosocial Factors with Multiple Health Behaviors: A Population-Based Study of Middle-Aged Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    15. Andreas Falke & Nadine Schröder & Claudia Hofmann, 2022. "The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(6), pages 899-928, August.
    16. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Baker, Douglas & Washington, Simon & Turrell, Gavin, 2013. "Residential dissonance and mode choice," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 12-28.
    17. Ficko, Andrej & Boncina, Andrej, 2013. "Probabilistic typology of management decision making in private forest properties," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-43.
    18. Muhammad Shahid Qureshi & Saadat Saeed & Syed Waleed Mehmood Wasti, 2016. "The impact of various entrepreneurial interventions during the business plan competition on the entrepreneur identity aspirations of participants," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.
    19. Julie Bayle-Cordier & Loïc Berger & Rayan Elatmani & Massimo Tavoni, 2023. "Breath, Love, Walk? The Impact of Mindfulness Interventions on Climate Policy Support and Environmental Attitudes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-29, July.
    20. Radha Jagannathan & Michael J. Camasso & Bagavan Das & Jale Tosun & Sadagopan Iyengar, 2017. "Family, society and the individual: determinants of entrepreneurial attitudes among youth in Chennai, South India," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 7(1), pages 1-22, December.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:5:p:858-:d:212382. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.