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Abstract

Keywords

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Literature review

۳٫ Research hypotheses

۴٫ Methodology

۵٫ Discussion and implications

۶٫ Conclusions

Author Statement

Acknowledgements

Appendix

Reference

Vitae

Abstract

Motivating users to change their health management behaviors and improve their behavioral performance is a challenge for designers of health management platforms. Gamification has the potential to motivate individuals to manage their health. To better understand the role of gamification in health management, this study investigates the role of goal difficulty and achievement incentives in health management performance as well as the moderating effects of social network exposure and active interaction. We collected data from an online weight management platform in China to test our research hypotheses. The results show that a U-shaped relationship exists between goal difficulty and weight management performance. Moreover, achievement incentives have a positive effect on performance and partially moderate the effect of goal difficulty. In addition, social network exposure strengthens the U-shaped relationship between goal difficulty and performance, while active interaction in social networks positively moderates the relationship between achievement incentives and performance. These findings facilitate the understanding of the role of social networks in health management gamification and contribute to goal-setting theory by providing new insights and suggestions for users and designers of health management platforms.

۱٫ Introduction

Obesity has become a serious problem in countries around the world. The United States has the highest rates of obesity worldwide, with adult and child obesity being 36.5% and 17%, respectively (Yan 2018). China is rapidly becoming the second most obese country in the world (Yang et al. 2019b), with the number of obese people in China reaching more than 250 million in 2019.1 Obesity increases the risk of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases and can affect health and quality of life. Problems related to obesity have become an important issue for health industries and organizations. In recent years, online health platforms and mobile applications have become vital channels for helping individuals manage their weight and health conditions (Yang et al. 2019a). Although these digital platforms have made it easier for individuals to create exercise and dietary plans and change their health-related behaviors, their weight management performance (i.e., degree of weight loss or change in body mass index [BMI]) may be reduced by a lack of motivation and interest (Tortorella et al. 2020; Yang et al. 2019b). Hence, the issue of how to motivate a change in users’ health management behaviors and improve weight management performance remains a significant challenge for designers of health management platforms. Designers of health management platforms have developed gamification functions to encourage users to engage in health self-management (Alah¨ aival ¨ ¨ a and Oinas-Kukkonen 2016). Gamification is the use of game design features in nongame contexts to motivate user behaviors (Deterding et al. 2011). For example, users can complete certain tasks to change their health-related behaviors and enhance their weight management performance (Yang et al. 2019b). Health management platforms enable users to set their weight loss goals, obtain rewards for achievements (e.g., badges and points), and engage in social networks. They can also play “games” to increase their interest and motivation (Johnson et al. 2016; Sardi et al. 2017). Therefore, the use of gamification in health management platforms has the potential to motivate users’ health management behaviors.