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Published Elsevier Playing Seriously - How Gamification and Social Cues Influence Bank Customers To Use Gamified E-Business Applications
Published Elsevier Playing Seriously - How Gamification and Social Cues Influence Bank Customers To Use Gamified E-Business Applications
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Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The development of business applications with game features has given rise to a new trend called
Received 29 December 2015 gamication and challenged e-banking to introduce new game elements, such as mechanics and social
Received in revised form cues, to its traditional applications. Yet, there has been a lack of empirical evidence regarding the
21 May 2016
intention to use, these type of applications and their possible impacts on business. Here, we explore
Accepted 23 May 2016
the role of gamication, socialness, and other four well-known variables (ease-of-use, usefulness,
enjoyment, and intention to use) in a gamied business application and corresponding business. We
proposed and evaluated a model based on the Technology Acceptance Model to better analyze and
Keywords:
E-banking
understand the adoption of gamied business applications. To test this model, we developed a study
Gamication using a sample of 183 bank customers, and we found that gamication signicantly improved the
Ease-of-use customers sense of social interaction, which, in turn, strongly inuenced the customers intention to
Usefulness use the applications. We argue that this intention to use could provide a strong benet to the business,
Socialness in term of increased customer engagement. This paper presents a new conceptual model to predict
Enjoyment behavioral intention in regards to gamication in e-banking, illustrating seven variables that affect the
Intention to use adoption of e-banking by bank customers. Our ndings contribute overall to a better understanding of
E-business
gamication in e-banking (with the extension of Technology Acceptance Model theories, and the new
variable gamication), providing important practical implications for software development and
marketing practices.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.063
0747-5632/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407 393
from the consumer. In general, games have a very low cultural customers feedback, and business metrics. Almost 80% of appli-
resistance, and a high level of customer acceptance (Smith, 2007). cations fail the business objectives, mainly due to poor design
Key features that engage users of games are social inuences (Gartner, 2012). In the application development context, the design
and game ow experience (Hsu & Lu, 2004). The importance of is the process of creating rules and contents, through game me-
social context, and the games elements or characteristics, have chanics, to allow gameplay (Hamari & Lehdonvirta, 2010). In this
been explained with reference to existing literature about social way, the design is critical to success in e-commerce/e-business,
inuence in social psychology, and current experience in ow because the characteristics of gamication play a signicant role in
theory (Alenezi, Karim, & Veloo, 2010). Online businesses are trying customer behavior. Thus, more studies are required in order to
to capitalize on current understandings of the game-user behavior make incremental improvements in gamication applications for
by creating a social presence through the adoption of social cues business, ones that add new features and gameplay mechanics
technologies. Software development that generates social presence (Hamari & Lehdonvirta, 2010) to ensure both customer engage-
in e-business applications aims to provide an understanding of how ment and the success of the business objectives. The game features
the adoption of different social features can affect online sales. Such and socialness cues in business software have grown so much that
features also help to assess the current deployment of diverse social researchers of games and web designers have begun to study and
presence enhancing technologies among customers/clients, in or- monitor the evolution of gamication (Juul, 2011).
der to reveal opportunities for other e-commerce business and to We already know that business software, gamied with social
speculate about future developments in this area. Therefore, it is cues, can inuence a customers intention to use serious applica-
important to study the inuence of the social features (socialness tions, but no research has yet studied the impact of both gami-
perception) that can be applied to e-banking so as to enhance the cation and social cues on bank customers. The commercial success
perception of online social presence for customers (through, for of online gaming and computer applications, and their inuence on
example, upload images, avatars, online product review, recom- the behaviors of users in terms of condence, enjoyment, ease-of-
mendation agents, instant help-avatar, social networks, blogs to use and loyalty (Wu & Liu, 2007), demonstrate that the develop-
share investment strategies, and other user-customization fea- ment of business applications with games features may positively
tures). Research on the current adoption of such social cues and inuence customers to increase their use of e-banking, resulting in
gamication features by online bank customers is very important, a higher degree of customer loyalty to the bank. This study,
so that we can examine more specically how e-banking with therefore explores the perceptions and attitudes of bank customers
games and social cue features might affect the adoption of e- who used a real business application, Futebank, which employed
banking by customers. both gamication (with game design, points, rankings, and re-
Game design elements and social cues, if applied to e-business wards), and social cues (language, voice, interactivity, and avatars).
software, may provide several advantages. First, because games Because this application offers customers an innovative and new
have rewarded mechanisms, such rewards may motivate customers social experience due to its integration of games and social features,
to more frequently use the website and possibly increase their it may facilitate customers to buy more nancial products online
nancial activity (e.g. inquire nancial information and perform and may inuence customers intentions to increase their usage of
more transactions). Second, games may improve the customers e-banking, which, in turn, will positively have an impact on the
experience, learning process and enjoyment, facilitating the bank business.
adoption of electronic channels. From a business perspective,
gamication and socialness may also be applied as input to provide 2. Main objective
economic savings to the business by reducing the face-to-face
relationship (while still maintaining a sense of social connection In recent years, the technical evolution in software develop-
for the customer) and sustaining the development of electronic ment, and the increasing number of internet customers, has led to
transactions that are directly performed by the customers. the growth of e-banking (Eriksson, Kerem, & Nilsson, 2008). E-
Therefore, analyzing the use of gamied business applications in banking changed the traditional way of doing business, external-
order to understand the inuence of gamication and socialness izing several services, and leading customers to perform their own
perceptions is important to e-commerce/e-business success banking activities (Eriksson et al., 2008; Nasir, 2013). In this sense,
(Wakeeld, Wakeeld, Baker, & Wang, 2011). Current studies on and thinking on the attractiveness of the services offered, some
the characteristics of games, and their inuence on customers corporations developed or changed their business computer ap-
behavior, are still insufcient (King, Delfabbro, & Grifths, 2010). As plications to include features appreciated by customers of online
well, the literature on online consumers behavior is often very games (Sayar & Wolfe, 2007). Until now, there is no indication that
disconnected. It includes studies about the intention to use online the acceptance of business applications can be directly inuenced
systems; however, the intention to buy online, and the continuity by software with social cues, and game mechanics (Deterding et al.,
behavior, has not yet been adequately studied (Chan, Cheung, 2011; Gee, 2008; Wakeeld et al., 2011), but we can see a correla-
Kwong, Limayem, & Zhu, 2003). Social factors may predict the tion between these factors. Understanding the factors that affect
use of gamication (Hamari, Koivisto, & Pakkanen, 2014; Hamari, customers intentions to use e-banking is very signicant to pro-
Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014), and some empirical research largely sup- fessionals who plan to promote new forms of banking in the cur-
ports the popular view that gamication induces positive effects, rent competitive market, especially those aiming for e-business
but many caveats still exist (Hamari, 2013). growth (Nasri, 2011). The objective of this work is to identify the
The introduction of game mechanisms in business is the art and main factors that inuence bank customers use of e-banking ap-
science of enriching the customer interactions, while still devel- plications, particularly ones developed with online games and so-
oping games that serve business purposes (Zichermann & cial features.
Cunningham, 2011). In this sense, companies have to learn how We therefore analyzed the impact of gamied business appli-
to introduce game mechanisms in their business software to pro- cations on the users/customers of an electronic bank in Portugal.
vide a fun, rewarding, and enjoyable experience for their cus- First, we will discuss the relevant literature of technology accep-
tomers. However, the design of social gaming does not begin when tance models. Subsequently, we will propose and explore our
the game starts; rather, it requires constant monitoring of conceptual model, which includes seven variables (gamication,
394 L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
socialness, ease of use, usefulness, enjoyment, intention to use, and reducing the cognitive effort required to use e-banking applications
business impact), hoping to contribute to a better understanding (Gefen, Karahanna, & Straub, 2003). These gamied applications
about the variables involving the adoption of e-banking by bank may also increase the intention of customers to use them through
customers. ease-of-use, therefore reducing the transactions performed in the
branch (face-to-face channel) which are more costly (40 times
3. Theoretical background higher) than the online channel (CEB TowerGroup, 2012).
Business software developments have introduced new vari- 4. Conceptual model proposed and hypotheses
ables, which play a signicant role in changing the customers
perceptions of bank companies. Consequently, online nancial Some researchers (Agarwal & Venkatesh, 2002; Yoon, 2002)
products and services transactions have experienced rapid changes have attempted to measure how website characteristics and design
in response both to technological development and to customers contribute to an increase in the intention to use the website and to
satisfaction. Some conceptual models, based on the Technology purchase online (presenting models with variables such as trust,
Acceptance Model (TAM; Davis, 1989), with variables tested in friendship, usability, ease-of-use, satisfaction, innovation, and
several studies (e.g. Davis, 1989; Wakeeld et al., 2011), may help us product adequacy) in several companies (e.g. airlines, bookstores,
to predict behavioral intention towards gamied e-banking. The car rental, insurances, travel agency). These authors were success-
technology acceptance model (TAM) is an information systems ful in measuring customer software adoption; however, it is note-
theory to model, test and explain how users may accept and use a worthy that certain design and social elements, such as game
new technology (Davis, 1989). characteristics and mechanisms, social cues, and overall game
A users intention to use a technology is inuenced, primarily, by design, were not examined. In a business context, the appeal of the
its usefulness and ease-of-use (Smith, 2004). Secondly, is deter- website and its design, as well as its interactivity and responsive-
mined by the ease-of-use and the (lack of) pleasure in using it ness, are recognized as very important to web success (Palmer,
(Childers, Carr, Peck, & Carson, 2002). The perceived ease-of-use is 2002). In fact, users care about website design, usability, content
the degree to which a person believes that using a particular in- richness, and navigation. These characteristics can be found in
formation system is free from effort (Davis, 1989). The perceived gamication (e.g. ease-of-use, rich design, usability, interactivity,
usefulness refers to the belief that using a particular information friendly contents, and so on) (Deterding et al., 2011). However, no
system may enhance task performance. Perceived usefulness is previous research seemed to consider the relationship between
closely linked to the perceived enjoyment, which is dened as the gamication, socialness, and intention to use on business impacts
degree to which a person thinks that performing a computer ac- in e-banking applications.
tivity is enjoyable (Deterding et al., 2011). Perceived enjoyment is a In the present study, and supported by Davis (1989), who pre-
dominant variable underlying the frequent use of online games sented a model (TAM) that explains the users intentions towards
(Choi & Kim, 2004). Perceived socialness is the users perception of adopting information systems; we propose a new model to explain
computers as social actors (after detecting the social presence), the effect of gamication on online business. In this model, we
resulting from the use of social cues (e.g. avatars, emotional content examine the causal relationship between seven variables: social-
or communication tools) on a website (Prendinger, Descamps, & ness (Wakeeld et al., 2011), ease-of-use (Davis, 1989), usefulness
Ishizuka, 2004). The original TAM (TAM 1, Davis, 1989) was (Davis, 1989), enjoyment (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1992),
further extended (TAM 2, Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) with additional intention to use (Davis, 1989), and gamication and business
variables to predict the adoption of emergent technologies by impact. These variables may signicantly affect customers atti-
consumers. These variables include, for example, playful tudes and behaviors, providing a more effective means to predict
computing (Moon & Kim, 2001), cognitive absorption (Agarwal & banks customers intention to use gamied business applications.
Karahanna, 2000), and perceived enjoyment (Koufaris, 2002). A The main contribution of this research is to determine the ef-
positive relationship between the perception of socialness and the fects of the bank customers intention to use gamied applications
perception of usefulness leads users to accept technology and how this intention to use might inuence bank business to
(Karahanna & Straub, 1999). In an e-commerce context, it is the better design enhanced business applications for the banking
websites interactive component that allows users to review social sector. Fig. 1 shows the theoretical model developed to provide the
perceptions, while shopping online (Kumar & Benbasat, 2006). research contribution.
Thus, socialness in computer applications induces a social response
from the users (Nass, Moon, & Carney, 1999). 4.1. Gamication (GAM)
In a business application on a bank website, we have different
settings and features available on the website (e.g. search engines, Gamication is the use of game design elements in non-game
forums, blogs, and/or product recommendation systems) that may contexts (Deterding et al., 2011). This term was rst used in 2008,
be used to guide the customer to better nancing and product in- and since 2010, gamication (Deterding et al., 2011; Hamari &
formation. Web design and online games may inuence bank Lehdonvirta, 2010) and persuasive technologies (Fogg, 2002) have
customers to perceive these business applications as fullling the been harnessed for business purposes and to inuence customers
needs for both socialness and usefulness. For example, some online behavior. Numerous software applications (across various sectors
games allow players to experiment with new identities, allowing such as production, nance, education, etc.) offer gamication as a
them to assume roles, and asking them to make decisions from service layer. All gamied applications have particular features,
different points of view (Gee, 2008). Similarly, a website that con- such as rewards, points, badges, levels, and leaderboards
veys socialness, usefulness, and enjoyment to the user is likely to (Deterding et al., 2011). In general, gamication describes a set of
be considered more useful, informative, friendly, enjoyable, and design principles, processes, and systems, which are used to in-
have greater ease-of-use when compared to a website without uence, engage, and motivate individuals, groups, and commu-
game mechanics and social features. nities. It refers to software design aimed to provide a game-like
Therefore, we considered that developing business applications experience to users, commonly with the end-goal of affecting user
with game features might inuence bank customers perceptions, behavior (Huotari & Hamari, 2012).
L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407 395
In our work, we aimed to help and positively inuence bank Gamication in e-banking differs from other business de-
customers to manage their own mutual fund portfolios in a better velopments in a few ways: 1) As seen in the loyalty market (Huotari
way, using a gamied business application. We also hoped that they & Hamari, 2012), gamication commonly attempts to provide ex-
would nd this activity enjoyable. However, developing socialness periences that are reminiscent of games (e.g. easy ow, easy to
and computer game functionalities into a banking website was a learn and to use), rather than directly offering hedonic experiences
complex task. To decide which were the elements and features that by means of audiovisual content or economic incentives, 2) Gami-
would be most appreciated by customers, and therefore included cation attempts to affect motivation rather than attitude or
on the website was not always easy (Straub & Watson, 2001). behavior, as seen in persuasive technologies (Fogg, 2002; Hamari,
A gamication design system is based on both the intrinsic and 2013); 3) Gamication adds gamefulness to existing business ap-
extrinsic rewards, leading to predened behaviors in the short or plications, rather than developing an entirely new game, as is
long term (UX Magazine, 2003). Gamication is the use of game frequently done with serious games (Deterding et al., 2011;
design thinking and game mechanics to engage users, increase Huotari & Hamari, 2012). Hence, in our own application, we
loyalty, and solve behavioral economics problems (Zichermann & developed Futebank to provide customers with attractive game
Cunningham, 2011). A good gamication design seeks to examine design navigation (e.g. football eld, and football players repre-
and align the objectives of a business organization with the moti- senting nancial portfolio and mutual funds) and game mechanics
vation of intrinsic customers, and so, using extrinsic rewards and (e.g. leaderboards of customers with highest mutual fund portfolio
intrinsically satisfying design, move the customers through their score) that are interactive and raise social and enjoyment percep-
nancial portfolio management. To do so, the application must tions in the customers, but remain focused on the business objec-
incorporate design elements that invoke desire, and provide tives of the bank at the same time.
incentive, challenge, reward, and feedback, to create engagement Overall, gamication software, and persuasive software design
with the new business software. While we constantly worked to promote both social and online interaction (Fogg, 2002), which
activate the intrinsic motivation of customers, we also had to means that information systems and services, like gamication, are
acknowledge that this motivation exists on a continuum being developed to change users attitudes, behaviors, or both,
(Zichermann & Cunningham, 2011). Users can convert extrinsic through market content, persuasive interaction, and software
motivators to intrinsic if they internalize the desire to do so (UX functionalities (Fogg, 2002). A gamied business application (one
Magazine, 2003). In other words, if an extrinsic motivator is with game characteristics and elements), creates a reaction of social
found to be meaningful, pleasurable, and consistent with a persons perception (social cues) from the bank customer, and this may
worldview, he/she can adopt it in a short or long term as though it determine how they perceive the applications ease-of-use, use-
was intrinsic. Such rewards are inherently linked to the game, and fulness, and enjoyment, which in turn may increase their intention
the learning process provides the user with a positive effort, to use gamied application, which subsequently, results in business
essentially due to the disconnection between the challenge and the impact. Therefore, we provide two hypotheses:
aspects of fantasy game design (Malone & Lepper, 1987). This
H1. The game elements and characteristics (gamication) of the
detachment is the reason why learning is mentioned as a practical
business software positively affect the perceived socialness of
activity disguised as a game. Fantasy aspects of the game are not
users/customers.
only a reward, but also they help to develop the knowledge of the
game (Malone & Lepper, 1987). Therefore, it is important to un- H2. The game elements and characteristics (gamication) of the
derstand the customers perceptions when they are using gamied business software positively affect the perceived enjoyment of
applications with social cues in a bank website. In this context, users/customers.
researchers may test, measure (extensively) and capture percep-
tions and behaviors of customers of e-banking systems (Straub &
Watson, 2001).
the e-business/e-commerce (Eriksson et al., 2008). Usefulness is improve the work efciency, but some technologies can also be
the subjective probability that using a technology improves the implemented to raise enjoyment in performing a certain task (Song
way a user may complete a given task, and perceived usefulness & Han, 2009). The concept of perceived enjoyment was introduced
refers to users perceptions regarding the outcome experience of to explain consumers use of e-commerce websites (Van der
their engagement with technology (Davis, 1989). Heijden, 2003). Perceived playfulness, or fun, is also treated as an
E-banking research using TAM found that perceived usefulness important hedonic factor antecedent to consumers attitudes to-
is an important factor. In fact, bank customers more frequently use wards using a system (Moon & Kim, 2001).
the electronic channel to perform their nancial transactions, and The extrinsic motivation emphasizes goal achievement as the
to obtain nancial information (Eriksson et al., 2008; Nasir, 2013) main determinant of behavior (Edward & Ryan, 1985). The intrinsic
because they perceive this channel as useful. Consequently, the motivation involves expectations of fulllment, or enjoyment, to be
greater is the perceived usefulness in e-banking services, the more derived from the target behavior (Vallerand, 1997). The socialness
likely e-banking will be used more often (Nui Polatoglu and Ekin, perceptions have a positive relationship with enjoyment (Wang
2001). However, perceived usefulness depends also on the et al., 2007), and an individual can experience enjoyment, or fun,
complexity of the nancial product (e.g. mutual funds, bonds, or from using a specic system. Thus, a user may perceive any active
stocks) (Gerrard, Barton Cunningham, & Devlin, 2006), so we had involvement in using new technology, as enjoyable (Davis, 1989).
to consider the degree to which a bank customer might perceive Similarly, a system perceived to be easy to use is conceived as more
that a gamied business application might be useful in term of fun to use (Bruner & Kumar, 2005).
improving efciency and facilitating the managing of mutual fund Prior studies on e-commerce, incorporated perceived enjoy-
portfolios. ment in the TAM to achieve a more accurate prediction of cus-
We argue that a customers intrinsic motivation can be inu- tomers acceptance of a specic product or service (Bruner &
enced by features developed in the business application (e.g. Kumar, 2005; Van der Heijden, 2003; Wakeeld et al., 2011). The
improved nancial literacy knowledge through the use of help- enjoyment in the use of online games has been shown to be
avatars, and graphical and interactive information such as prod- signicantly related to users having a positive attitude about games
uct risk alerts), which might affect the utilitarian factor (or use- (Hsu & Lu, 2004). Furthermore, the enjoyment in the use of an e-
fulness), thus providing better information/knowledge of a commerce website has been signicantly related to increased
complex nancial product (e.g. mutual funds or other investment customer satisfaction (Khalifa & Liu, 2007; Wakeeld et al., 2011).
products). Consequently, the customer will have more fun and will The perception of socialness about a website leads to ease-of-use,
perceive the gamied application as an easy process to obtain in- usefulness, enjoyment, and intention to use the website (for
formation leading to better performing investments, and reduces instance, an e-commerce website) (Wakeeld et al., 2011).
the risk of taking nancial lost. Thus, reducing the nancial literacy We presume that perceived enjoyment resides in the extent to
effort, and providing product risk alerts, the application will which a customer thinks that using a gamied business applica-
encourage customers to perceive Futebank as an interesting, tion is pleasant (e.g., football design game analogy with serious
enjoyable and useful application, since it may help them to manage business, competition, and rewards), and that this perceived
their nancial investments (Davis et al., 1992; Edward & Ryan, enjoyment is correlated with an intention to use it again in the
1985; Gee, 2008; Malone & Lepper, 1987; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, future. Therefore, the idea that bank customers perceive the
Lee, & Podsakoff, 2003; Yang et al., 2009). gamied business application as enjoyable or fun can create an
We therefore designed Futebank to provide the customers with expectation of an internal psychological reward, which can be
interactive software tools (e.g. help-avatars, search engines to sufcient to motivate sustained or extensive use. In this sense, we
select mutual funds by risk type, region, asset composition, per- suggest that:
formance, and emails notications with recommendations and
H12. The perceived enjoyment of using gamied business appli-
price change alerts), that would be perceived as useful in terms of
cations, positively affects the intention to them.
the better management of their nancial investments. We suggest
that perceived usefulness of the gamied business application:
H10. Positively affects the perceived enjoyment. 4.6. Intention to use (INT)
H11. Positively affects the intention to use gamied software. In the present study, we use TAM to predict and explain both
customers intentions to use gamied business applications and the
possible impact on business using these applications to manage
4.5. Perceived enjoyment (ENJ) nancial products via e-banking. Previous empirical studies indi-
cated that an individuals attitude is determined by various ante-
Enjoyment was originally set as a supplement, when the use of a cedent factors, or external variables, such as system features,
computer was considered pleasant (Davis et al., 1992). The design, information, and/or support (Davis, 1989).
perception of technology use-enjoyment (i.e. how pleasurable it is Behavioral intention to use is a measure of a persons likelihood
to engage with and use technology) is inuenced by game char- to purchase or adopt a product or service (Davis, 1989). As an
acteristics (Moon & Kim, 2001), as has been analyzed through outcome of lack of usefulness, ease-of-use, and enjoyment, many
purchase intentions on the internet (Jarvenpaa & Todd, 1996), in users hesitate to engage in widespread e-banking usage (McKnight,
which use-enjoyment has been found as a catalyst to increase the Choudhury, & Kacmar, 2002), such as inquiring about nancial
intentions to use technology (Moon & Kim, 2001; Van der Heijden, information, and purchasing products/services.
2003). Business design features therefore not only have a strong impact
The primary emotion felt in playing games is enjoyment (Boyle, on customers intention to use gamied software, but also plays an
Connolly, & Hainey, 2011). Some studies have analyzed how the even more important role in terms of predicting their use of busi-
immersion in games provides enjoyment, or awakens other emo- ness software (Wu & Liu, 2007). This is consistent with the prior
tions, to players, but the results were inconclusive (Razak & research in e-commerce enterprise, which has demonstrated that
Connolly, 2013). Organizations adopt new technologies to enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and simplicity of utilization are
398 L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
all important triggers to encourage customer intention to use new used to reduce costs and eliminate uncertainties (Kelley, 1989). In
software, which is a decisive factor in e-business success (Jarvenpaa the nancial service sector, technology has been used to stan-
& Todd, 1996; Lee & Kozar, 2006). dardize services by reducing the employee/customer interface
The hesitation of customers towards using e-banking remains a (Sangeetha, 2012).
hindrance to its success (Hoffman, Novak, & Peralta, 1999). It is With gamication, banking operations become more fun,
critical to promote e-banking usage in order to transform a po- interactive, and participatory, encouraging customers to adopt
tential consumer from a curious observer to someone who is behaviors that contribute to their nancial literacy. At the same
willing to transact and buy over the website. E-banking is a self- time, we predict that gamied software will result in customers
service available to online customers, and requires less resources performing more nancial operations online. If the usability of a
and lower transaction and production costs than traditional website exceeds customers expectations, then they will have a
banking (Witman & Roust, 2008). Therefore, understanding the more favorable attitude towards gamied applications. Customers
nature and antecedents of the customers intentions to use gami- will accept gamication more easily, and will use gamied appli-
ed business software may improve the relationship between cations more often, leading to a business increase, and, therefore,
customers and business software, which, in turn, will promote a more transactions will be performed, with an evident business
greater acceptance of e-banking usage, with a consequent and impact.
positive business impact. Furthermore, continuous buying and selling over the Internet is
We dene behavioral intention as the prediction of the cus- essential to the ongoing success of any e-business organization,
tomers intention to use a gamied system. It is important to verify because the business transaction in which the parties interact
the degree to which a customers attitude is favorable, or unfa- electronically, rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical
vorable, towards using gamied software applications (such as contact, has less cost to the organization (CEB TowerGroup, 2012).
Futebank, in the present case), in order to predict whether it will E-business makes communication between banks and customers
have an impact on the business of the bank. Accordingly, we state more efcient, faster, easier, and cheaper (CEB TowerGroup, 2012).
that: In order for an e-business to succeed, an organization must provide
user competencies through features and mechanics that increase
H13. The intention to use a gamied business software positively
the ease-of-use, usefulness, and information, to inuence the user
affects the banking business (having a business impact).
to buy more online. With an interactive game design, and dynamic
information tools, the users have an important benet supporting
4.7. Business impact (BUS) queries for buy or sell decisions (Hoffman et al., 1995). Thus, by
developing gamied business applications, the users behavior
E-banking has become one of the main channels for the distri- could be inuenced to learn more about e-business and use it more
bution of banking products and services (Amato-McCoy, 2005). In frequently, which will result in the increase of online activity,
response to competitive pressures from non-banking nancial therefore reducing organizational costs. The success of a business
service companies, and the continuous progress of the internet, computer application, with games and socialness characteristics,
banks have been innovative and active internet strategy boosters can be measured through the level of customer involvement, and
(Singer, Baradwaj, Flaherty, & Rugemer, 2012), seen particularly in its inuence on customers behavior (Juul, 2011). Furthermore,
the advances in information technology that stimulated the socialness, which refers to the extent to which customers feel that
development of e-banking (Wong, Loh, Yap, & Bak, 2009). However, they have a social experience via online channels, has been
success is relative, because in spite of the increased use of the shown to have a positive effect on business. For example, e-com-
internet, and the technological investment in online banking, the merce acceptance has been facilitated, in part, by the extent to
use of these services still reduced (Farzianpour, Pishdar, Shakib, & which users, such as online shoppers, perceive that a website,
Toloun, 2014). through incorporating human-like elements, successfully provides
Although there is still potential in e-banking, particularly when an innovative social experience. The intention to use the gamied
viewed as a direct sales channel, to increase company protability, business application and its buy/sell transactions then inuences
there is an unquestionable lack of knowledge regarding this issue the customer in performing nancial operations, and these impacts
(Hoffman, Novak, & Chatterjee, 1995), primarily because very few globally in business impacts (Delone & McLean, 2003). As the
organizations report the online business impact on overall com- impacts of information systems have evolved beyond the online
pany business (Thompson & Kaul, 1995). Others organizations deal user, researchers have suggested additional impact measures for
with very short business information, without utility or value of e- information systems, such as business impacts (Clemons, Reddi, &
business impact analysis (Marcella & Illingworth, 2012). Conse- Row, 1993). Some results from other studies, especially in the
quently, we argue that a positive user experience, combined with a context of e-commerce systems, prove that the ease-of-use and
business application in e-banking context, will increase customers usefulness are strongly associated with system use and net benets
intention to use e-banking, and to perform more nancial trans- (Li, 1997; Molla & Licker, 2001; Teo & Choo, 2001). Business Impact
actions, which will have a positive effect on the companys busi- success measures are very important, but they can only be under-
ness. We argue, in fact, that the development of successful gamied stood after analyzing and measuring the intention to use an
business applications is vital in business, because it is chiey application. For example, in e-banking environment, the impact of
grounded on the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations for consumers a website design of customer purchases cannot be fully understood
to buy online (Shang, Chen, & Shen, 2005). without an evaluation of the usability of the website and, and it is
In this spirit, recent research has stressed the ever-growing also necessary that the site provides to the prospective purchaser
potential of gamication to become an important tool to inu- all the information relevant to make purchasing decisions. Busi-
ence customers to use business software more often, improving ness Impact means organization cost savings, increment on the
both customer relationships and customer satisfaction with sales, or new customers that results from the intention to use the
internet business (Mohd Suki, Ramayah, & Mohd Suki, 2008; gamied business application (Shapiro & Varian, 2013). Thus, we
Yousafzai, Pallister, & Foxall, 2009). dene business impact as a measure that results from bank cus-
The role of technology in organizations has been predominantly tomers usage of gamied business computer applications. It is very
L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407 399
important that customers perceive the advantages of using gami- use (Van der Heijden, 2004). A customer may be motivated to use
ed applications, instead of traditional ones, adopting the innova- a traditional business application (see Fig. 3) purely for utility (e.g.
tive functions with game features. This new way to manage a to inquire or perform nancial transactions), or may choose a
mutual fund portfolio (with gamication, ease to use, usefulness, business application with game characteristics and social cues to
and enjoyment), positively inuences customers intention to use, engage more actively. In order to account for these motivations,
and directly affects their willingness to both purchase and recom- both business applications, traditional and gamied, (see Figs. 2
mend the application to friends (word-of-mouth). With this and 3), were available to bank customers, between April and
expertise, banks will be better prepared to improve customers May in 2012.
nancial literacy, user experience, and increase satisfaction/loyalty,
all of which will help the bank to gain a competitive advantage and 5.2. Data collection and procedure e questionnaire
increase business (Methlie & Nysveen, 1999).
To manage customers activities and resources in a manner that To measure customers perceptions after they interacted with
fosters trust, acceptance, and ultimately purchase decisions, e- the gamied application (see Fig. 2), and to study the variables
banking must actively explore knowledge sources that articulate involved, including the respective impact of the application, we
trust-building methods in ways that are relevant to the business developed a questionnaire based on the objectives of the research.
and that will promote the customer satisfaction. There has not been Data was collected through an online survey with e-banking users/
any specic theoretical model that analyses important social mo- customers who had used FuteBank (see Fig. 2). Questions were
tivators, like games and socialness inuence in the most common adapted from previous studies that explore an extension of TAM,
variables (such as ease-of-use, usefulness, enjoyment, and inten- which sought to discover users impressions of gamied business
tion to use) in e-business, and this is a good stimulus for the present applications (see Appendix e presents the variables and their
work. measured items).
The questionnaire was pretested with a small sample of users
4.8. Hypotheses (summarized) who had prior access to the game in order to verify both its usability
and the clarity of the questions. After that, we had the opportunity
The hypothesized relationships between variables of the con- to improve some questions, and nalize the questionnaire. We
ceptual model (see Fig. 1) are as follows: veried the reliability of the survey through statistical procedures
(using SPSS tool to verify the variance, Skewness, and Kurtosis is-
5. Research methodology sues) before launching Futebank, and collected the data using this
validated questionnaire (see Appendix). Likert scales (1-strongly
We conducted a eld study for an e-bank operating in Portugal, disagree to 5-strongly agree) were associated with each question
in which we developed a new business application for mutual to evaluate participants perception about the gamied business
funds, one that included both games characteristics and social cues. application.
To test the relationships hypothesized in the theoretical model that The conceptual model (see Fig. 1), sought evidence of the in-
we proposed (see Fig. 1), data was collected through an online uence of all variables in bank customers intention to use gamied
survey developed according to our objective, with the intention to business applications, and the business impact. The data was
be accessed by the users/customers via the gamied business operationalized according to the conceptual model adopted (see
application. Fig. 1), and the relations between the variables were tested and
analyzed through statistical techniques in order to determine the
5.1. Futebank e gamied business application impact of the gamied application in terms of customer intention
to use it, and on the business itself.
The new business application FuteBank (see Fig. 2) is an online
digital animation based on a nancial product for mutual funds and 5.2.1. Sample characteristics
portfolio management, which emulates a football champions lea- To access the new gamied business application, the bank
gue. The game establishes the main relationship between the customer rst has to register to use this nance application, due to
football team and a portfolio mutual fund, with the positions of the compliance and bank regulations. Of the 862 bank customers
players on the eld representing the risk rank assigned to each registered, only 427 personalized the user application interface (e.g.
specic mutual fund. The mutual fund risk rank is a measure of choosing avatars, selecting players, etc.) These users were eligible
volatility, with a scale of 1e5, with 1 being the least volatile (in the to play (buy and sell mutual funds) because they had more than 6
application these mutual funds are goalkeepers), and 5 corre- mutual funds necessary to create a football team, thus allowing
sponding to the most volatile (strikers). The midelders are mutual them to manage their mutual funds through this new application
funds with a risk rank from 2 to 4. (see Table 1).
This software was only available for customers with mutual Of the bank customers that substantively used the gamied
funds in their portfolio, with the objective of transforming a business application, buying, or selling mutual funds through
complicated process of choosing, selecting, and purchasing, into a Futebank, 183 participants answered the questionnaire. Table 2
simple, enjoyable and easy transaction process with an attractive shows the demographic prole of the bank customers partici-
design. The mutual funds (football players) are displayed on the pants: 161 (88%) were male and 22 (12%) were female; the ma-
football eld, according to their risk rank (goalkeepers in the rst jority of the participants were more than 40 years old (62%); and
line of defense, midelders in the centre of the eld, and strikers in more than half of the participants (76%) had at least a bachelor
the advanced line). Thus, each manager/customer can visualize, degree.
through the placement of players on the eld, his risk prole, giving
him the chance to evaluate the risk of his global portfolio (football 5.3. Data analysis
team) (see Fig. 2).
Previous research demonstrated that bank customers reply to Several techniques for data analysis were performed to ensure
environmental stimuli differently, depending upon the purpose of that the accuracy of this study complies with the current standards
400 L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
Fig. 2. Mutual fund application with game characteristics (gamied business application).
(Source: Developed for this study.)
Table 1 explained by the rst factor extracted in the factor analyses was not
Research hypotheses. greater than 50 percent (Podsakoff et al., 2003).
Hypotheses Positive and signicant inuence The reliability of the measurement model was assessed for
H1 SOC ) GAM
internal consistency using both Cronbachs alpha, and average
H2 ENJ ) GAM variances extracted (AVE). The reliability (internal consistency) of
H3 EOU ) SOC all items was tested with software SPSS v.20. All the coefcients of
H4 ENJ ) SOC reliability (see Table 3) are above the recommended minimum of
H5 USE ) SOC
0.70 Cronbachs Alpha (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham,
H6 INT ) SOC
H7 USE ) EOU 2006), which is considered as signicant, demonstrating that
H8 ENJ ) EOU the results of the seven dimensions (considered as latent vari-
H9 INT ) EOU ables) and the underlying twenty two items (variables) are highly
H10 ENJ ) USE
reliable.
H11 INT ) USE
H12 INT ) ENJ
Discriminant validity was determined by the square root of the
H13 BUS ) INT AVE (Average Variance Extracted), in terms of whether it exceeds
the correlation between the dimensions (Hair et al., 2006). The AVE
(Source: Own elaboration.)
of all the dimensions was above the suggested level of 0.50,
implying that all the dimensions that ranged from 0.525 to 0.788
were responsible for more than 50 percent of the variance, which
Table 2
Demographic characteristics of the participants.
met the recommendation that AVE values should be at least 0.50 for
each dimension (Holmes-Smith, 2001).
Participants demographic information (N 183) The square root of the AVEs should be greater than the corre-
Attribute(s) Frequency Percent lations among the constructs, which indicates that more variance is
Gender Male 161 88% shared between the construct and its indicators than with other
Female 22 12% constructs. Table 4 shows that the square root of the AVE (diagonal
Age Under 25 5 3% elements in bold) for the dimensions ranges between 0.724 and
25e40 64 35% 0.888. These results indicate that the correlation for each dimen-
Above 40 114 62%
Education level High school 44 24%
sion is less than the square root of the AVE; therefore, the
Bachelors degree 113 62% discriminant validity is adequate.
Master degree 26 14%
test common method bias, we applied Harmons one-factor test to Dimensions Cronbachs alpha N of items (see Appendix)
the data from the current experiment (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986). GAM-gamication 0.767 3
We did an exploratory factor analysis on all the 23 variables in the SOC-perceived socialness 0.771 3
model, and the unrotated factor analysis revealed that no single EOU-perceived ease-of-use 0.794 4
factor accounted for a bulk of the covariance in the variables. This, ENJ-perceived enjoyment 0.812 3
USE-perceived usefulness 0.772 3
suggest that a common method bias is not a business organization
INT-perceived intention to use 0.715 3
in the present work. Thus, common-method variance (CMV) does BUS-business impact 0.752 3
not seem to be a problem in the present study because the variance
(Source: Own elaboration.)
402 L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
Table 4 application, and, therefore, to feel more driven (or with a strong
Correlations between dimensions and AVE. intention) to use it, which in turn also lead to a strong impact on
EOU SOC GAM USE BUS ENJ INT business, which means that the customer may use it more often.
PEOU 0.777
Perceived ease-of-use had a strong positive inuence on
PSOC 0.587 0.849 perceived usefulness (H7, b 0.56), on perceived enjoyment (H8,
GAM 0.405 0.823 0.845 b 0.51), and on the intention to use the application (H9, b 0.57),
PUSE 0.762 0.711 0.498 0.888 which in turn strongly inuence the business. These results indi-
BUS 0.714 0.701 0.490 0.708 0.724
cate that the game design and social cues developed in Futebank,
PENJ 0.651 0.728 0.612 0.596 0.577 0.822
PINT 0.762 0.794 0.801 0.733 0.718 0.810 0.839 namely ease-of-use and usefulness, combined with the online,
digital animation of a football champions league, which was
Note: The numbers of the diagonal (in bold) are the square root of the AVE for each
dimension. All correlations are signicant at p < 0.01.
perceived as enjoyable, lead the users to have a growing desire to
(Source: Own elaboration.) use the application more, and, consequently, their will and activity
had a positive impact on business.
Relationships not conrmed are also signicant as expected:
perceived usefulness had no inuence on either the perceived
items, the model ts are likely to improve and unlikely to produce
enjoyment (H10), or on customers intention to use the application
any major theoretical repercussions. However, to conrm and
(H11) and perceived enjoyment had no positive inuence on the
explore the theoretical model with SEM technique, it is advisable
customers intentions (H12). Finally, gamication and socialness
that each dimension should have at least two items (Byrne, 1998),
had no inuence on enjoyment (H2 and H4).
and that was respected.
The dimensions were validated by convergent validity and
7. Discussion
discriminant validity, making the reliability of the measurement
model satisfactory. The next step illustrates the process of identi-
We conducted the present study in order to explore the main
fying the relations between the dimensions underlying the con-
dimensions that might inuence banks customers intention to use
ceptual model (see Fig. 1).
a gamied business application. Analyzing the bank customers
responses/perceptions after using Futebank, we identied that
6. Results game-design features (gamication) and social cues (socialness)
are closely related (gamication has a direct and positive inuence
Using the software SPSS AMOS v.18, and after holding the CFA, on socialness), justifying the intention to adopt gamied business
we performed the Chi-square test, which indicated a good t for the application in e-banking. Therefore, we proposed and validated a
data in the conceptual model (Hair et al., 2006): X2 142.9; conceptual model of gamied business applications (cf. Figs. 1 and
(p 0.000); CMIN/DF 2.5; RMR 0.52; GFI 0.90; CFI 0.94; 4). Our ndings enhanced the importance of gamication and
IFI 0.94. For assessment of the degree of causal relationship be- socialness in a business application, promoting easier acceptance of
tween the dimensions, we used the criterion of Cohen (Cohen, e-banking among users/customers.
1988). The results show that gamication is strongly linked with
Results (see Table 5) indicate the standardized coefcients for all socialness, as the more the user has a perception of socialness, the
hypothesized paths in the conceptual model (see Figs. 1 and 4). greater is the customers intention to use the application, which has
Our results show that gamication had a strong positive inu- a positive impact on the business. The use of social cues to provide
ence on socialness perception (H1, b 0.80), which in turn had a avoidance motivation, and social interaction through the users has
strong inuence on the customers intention to use (H6, b 0.66), been also found to be important in other software providers, such
which leads to a strong positive inuence on business impact (H13, as Facebook or Twitter (Ellison, 2007). This similar ndings show
b 0.72). Socialness perception also had a strong positive inuence that gamication should be imbued with mechanisms that afford
on the perception of ease to use (H3, b 0.53), and a medium social interaction to enhance social inuence and the perception of
impact on perceived usefulness (H5, b 0.44). This means that reciprocal benets between customers and business (Hamari,
gamication lead the user to feel more socialized with the Koivisto, & Pakkanen, 2014; Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014).
Previous studies found that socialness and game experience
inuence the attitude towards technology, but until now, it has not
Table 5 been tested in terms of e-business (Childers et al., 2002; Hsu & Lu,
Regression results underling the hypothesis testing. 2004; Deterding et al., 2011; Tang & Hanh Nguyen, 2013). Another
Hypotheses Regression weights Estimate S.E. C.R. p important nding is the inuence played by socialness perceptions
*** in terms of the customers intentions, through its inuence as an
H1 SOC ) GAM 0.804 0.061 13.262
H2 ENJ ) GAM 0.111 0.201 0.553 0.580 intermediate variable, on other variables (such as ease-of-use,
H3 EOU ) SOC 0.537 0.077 6.988 *** usefulness, and intention to use). The same results were found in
H4 ENJ ) SOC 0.358 0.267 1.343 0.179 an e-commerce context in a retail website where social cue features
***
H5 USE ) SOC 0.444 0.093 4.749 were developed to inuence the user intention to use it, and so
***
H6 INT ) SOC 0.660 0.144 4.571
H7 USE ) EOU 0.560 0.113 4.954 *** sales were increased (Wakeeld et al., 2011).
H8 ENJ ) EOU 0.518 0.191 2.720 0.007 We also note that the perceived ease-of-use, such as was found
H9 INT ) EOU 0.573 0.214 2.675 0.007 in the TAM, has a crucial function, with a strong positive inuence
H10 ENJ ) USE 0.061 0.196 0.313 0.755 on usefulness, enjoyment, and the intention to use the gamied
H11 INT ) USE 0.125 0.176 0.711 0.477
business application. In fact, the ease-of-use is a very powerful
H12 INT ) ENJ 0.013 0.133 0.101 0.920
H13 BUS ) INT 0.721 0.086 8.383 *** mediator that inuences technology adoption (Davis, 1989), both
in terms of the perceived usefulness of a technology, and the
S.E.: Approximate standard error; C.R.: Critical ratio; p: Estimated probability of
getting a sample value this far from zero if the population value is zero; ***p is
enjoyment of users (Davis et al., 1992). Other studies conrmed a
statically signicant different from zero at 0.000 levels. positive relationship between ease-of-use and enjoyment, and
(Source: Own elaboration.) between enjoyment and intention to use (Van der Heijden, 2004);
L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407 403
however, none of these studies involved a banking environment. the intention to use the business application. In other works, we
The inuence of ease-of-use and socialness is even more signi- similarly found that enjoyment does not inuence the intention to
cant in the e-banking gamied context (with complex products, use an e-learning system (Hamari, 2013), or has little inuence on it
such as a mutual fund). This is because the game features and (Punnoose, 2012). Also, a weak or missing of inuence of usefulness
design can reduce the cognitive effort required to use the appli- on intention to use was identied in the study of Juniwati (Juniwati,
cation (Dubois & Tamburrelli, 2013) and, in this way, satises the 2014), about online shopping. Usefulness had no signicant inu-
business objectives of having more users spending time on the ence on repurchase intent, because (culturally) people prefer to
website and using its applications. The strong direct impact of socialize when they go shopping (Lin, Fang, & Tu, 2010). Other re-
ease-of-use, socialness, on intention to use can probably be searchers (e.g. Cheema, Rizwan, Jalal, Durrani, & Sohail, 2013) also
explained by the strong impact of gamication (e.g. game design, found no signicant relationship between the perceived usefulness
game features, emotional contents, rewards, pleasure, leader- of online applications and the intention to shop online. The non-
boards, and others) on socialness (Childers et al., 2002; Deterding positive inuence of enjoyment and usefulness in intention to
et al., 2011; Hooper et al., 2008; Prendinger et al., 2004). The non- use this gamied business application can also be explained by
positive impact of enjoyment and usefulness on intention to use, external factors (e.g. serious nancial crisis, lack of condence in
can be explained by the nancial context which using the serious the banking system, product complexity, nancial risk, high regu-
application for investments, could result in nancial loss. Another lation, customer prole, etc.). In addition, some external factors can
factor that could explain the non-inuence of gamication in the have a decisive inuence on the lack of usefulness in TAM, but
perception of enjoyment is the customers prole, with many empirical tests were not realized to explore which of these factors
users being men and aged 40 years and over (62% of participants were in play (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989).
above 40 years old, and 88% were male) and having a high income The ease-of-use inuence on the perception of enjoyment
from investments in complex nancial products. The effect of shows that the easier the software is to use, the greater is the
gender and age may have signicant perceptions affect due to perception of enjoyment, which accords with other studies
development and socialization status (Wechselberger, 2013). In (Ramayah & Ignatius, 2005), where we also concluded that the
addition, negative attitudes in relation to nancial investments, ease-of-use of technology has a positive effect on the intention to
and the lack of enjoyment in using the gamied business appli- use it.
cation could result from unpleasant prior experiences, in a situ- According to the TAM model, there is a positive relationship
ation of pressure to make some investment or/and due to a between the acceptance of online services and the lack of useful-
nancial loss (Wechselberger, 2013). As well, perceived enjoy- ness and ease-of-use. In fact, it was identied that this relationship
ment was found to be a strong predictor of computer system usage is more complex in e-banking than is usually recognized (Singer
(Davis et al., 1992; Van der Heijden, 2004). Other research sug- et al., 2012). In addition, the frequency and the experience of the
gests that perceived enjoyment does not positively inuence the use of e-banking might have a negative impact on the lack of
behavioral intention to use a computer system (Fagan, Neill, & usefulness and ease-of-use (Singer et al., 2012). For example, the
Wooldridge, 2008; Shin & Kim, 2008). This was reinforced here, higher the frequency and the user experience in banking websites,
since perceived enjoyment was not a positive inuence in the smaller is the lack of usefulness. Thus, higher frequency of use
customer intention to use the gamied business application. of the gamied application during the game time (two months) can
This study also proved that the users perceptions of usefulness justify the non-positive inuence of usefulness on intention to use
and enjoyment were not inuential in terms of the intention to use it.
a gamied business application. As well, gamication and useful- The results show that gamication and socialness play an
ness have no positive inuence on perceived enjoyment, neither in important role in e-banking intention to use and in electronic
404 L.F. Rodrigues et al. / Computers in Human Behavior 63 (2016) 392e407
business, which is in accordance with Gartner predictions (Gartner, intention to use a business software, and subsequently, inuence
2012). Furthermore, gamication engages customers to use and positively the bank business. Gamication is a very effective strat-
perform nancial products online, with the support of an enjoyable egy for banks to use in order to motivate customers to increase their
game design and social cue features that will contribute to the ease- use of the website, thus increasing their nancial activity. This is
of-use and usefulness of e-banking and, consequently, to the because the game design elements and social cues, applied to e-
improvement of business. Thus, gamied applications can increase business software, provide several advantages, particularly in terms
online sales, and improve the quality of service/system use, which of the applications perceived usefulness and the users ease-of-use
are viewed as highly important for marketing and business metrics and intention to use e the stronger the perception of socialness, the
(Hamari & Koivisto, 2013). Therefore, the results suggest implica- greater the perception of ease-of-use, usefulness, and the intention
tions for managerial and business purposes regarding effects on to use the website. However, the users perceptions of enjoyment
customer engagement to use online banking applications. Our and usefulness, isolated (by itself), do not inuence the intention to
ndings are important, since no paper, until now, seemed to infer use the gamied business applications. Finally, the users percep-
the relationship between gamication and purchase behavior, or tions of ease-of-use have a relevant impact on intention to use the
business impact (Hamari, Koivisto, & Pakkanen, 2014; Hamari, gamied business application, indicating also a strong inuence on
Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014). usefulness and enjoyment.
These results are very relevant and show that the customers, at This paper presents a new conceptual model to predict behav-
the same time, consider what we may take to be a software ioral intention towards gamied e-banking, enhancing seven di-
hedonic-oriented, has software user-oriented. In addition, it ap- mensions (gamication, socialness, ease-of-use, usefulness,
pears to indicate that gamication (game features), social cues enjoyment, intention to use, and business impact) that affect the
(Avatars) and an interactive interface have a strong effect on cus- adoption of e-banking by bank customers. This model contributes
tomers attitudes, and consequently, on the business of the bank. to the understanding of gamied business applications, and pro-
However, we cannot generalize these results to all e-banking sys- vides banks with relevant indications for the development of game
tems, because in this study the gamied business application was design and social cues in business software, also directing future
only available for current bank customers who held a minimum of research in this new promising eld. From a business perspective,
six mutual funds in their portfolio. gamication and socialness may be applied as input to give eco-
While the theoretical foundation for the ndings analyzed in nomic savings, reducing the face-to-face relationship, and sus-
this gamied business application is underpinned in this empirical taining the development of online transactions performed directly
study, the implementation of assorted cases of online games by the customers. In addition, the reward mechanisms may moti-
technologies in different contexts of e-banking requires further vate customers to use the website more frequently, increasing their
investigation. It would be interesting to ascertain why some vari- nancial activity and again reducing the face-to-face relationship,
ables in this eld do not induce a positive inuence in the intention which is more costly. We should also note that gamied business
to use the application Futebank. The lack of signicance of applications might improve the customers usage experience, their
perception of enjoyment and perception of usefulness in cus- learning about bank processes or products, thus promoting their
tomers intention to use the application may indicate that the enjoyment to adopt online banking channels.
employment of actual money to buy mutual funds is perceived as a This work contributes to the discussion about the implications
serious task that customers do not see as enjoyable. of purposeful design, gaming features, and social cues on e-banking
Future research that examines more clearly the user views and applications.
the hedonic intent of the business application in use may help to Many empirical studies have validated the TAM original model
understand these effects. For example, some customers may and its interrelationships, whereas other studies have recom-
consider visiting the gamied software as an enjoyable diversion. mended enhancements to the original model. Founded on these
Similarly, others may visit a gamied software specically to have a contributions, we project an updated TAM model, adding gami-
better perspective of their fund portfolio and the product risk cation and socialness to serve as a base for the positioning and
through a graphical and interactive design. How such bank cus- comparing of other empirical researches in e-business with game
tomers would respond to technology engendering gamication, design and social cues. The conceptual model provides researchers
and website socialness features, may interact with the general ef- and practitioners with a tool to classify and interpret the extensive
fects reported here. spectrum of purposeful game design in serious commercial enter-
Our ndings reinforce other results in previous research prise applications.
(Agarwal & Venkatesh, 2002; Wakeeld et al., 2011; Yoon, 2002, Overall, our study identies the primary aspects that should be
2009) that identied and explained users attitudes towards on- weighed when applying or evaluating gamication approaches in
line shopping, contributing to understanding how gamication (a e-banking. The ndings contribute to a better understanding of
new dimension here operationalized) has a positive inuence on gamication in e-banking, and have important practical implica-
socialness, which, in turn, has a clear impact on the ease-of-use and tions for software development and marketing practices. Particu-
intention to use a gamied business application, and nally, on the larly in the banking sector, nancial products are complex to
business itself. understand, and customers still resist using electronic channels to
perform nancial activities and manage their investments. Now we
know that games can help make a serious application more
8. Conclusions attractive and easy to use, leading customers to more closely
engage with the products with which they play.
In the present study, we explore the relationship between The results of this research may help the e-business marketer to
gamication, socialness, ease-of-use, usefulness, enjoyment, and identify the right design features, and encourage researchers to
intention to use a gamied e-banking mutual fund application, continue testing and challenging the conceptual model in future
and the corresponding business impact. According to the results studies involving serious and gamied business applications.
(see Fig. 4), we concluded that gamication and socialness are
benecial for e-banking, since they have an impact on customer
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socialness leads to website use. European Journal of Information Systems, 20(1), Lus Filipe Rodrigues is a PhD student at ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal. He received the
118e132. B.S. and M.S. degrees in Information Technology from ISLA-Lisboa and ISEG-Lisboa
Wang, L. C., Baker, J., Wagner, J. A., & Wakeeld, K. (2007). Can a retail web site be respectively. While working as CIO/CTO in a Bank his research and writing about gami-
social? Journal of Marketing, 71(3), 143e157. cation in e-banking, web design characteristics and business software development.
Wechselberger, U. (2013). Learning and enjoyment in serious
gamingecontradiction or complement?. In DiGRA International Conference
(Atlanta, GA: DeFragging Game Studies). Ablio Oliveira is an Assistant Professor, at Instituto Universitario de Lisboa (ISCTE-
Witman, P. D., & Roust, T. L. (2008). Balances and accounts of online banking users: a IUL), Lisboa, Portugal, and a Researcher at Information Sciences, Technologies and
study of two US nancial institutions. International Journal of Electronic Finance, Architecture Research Centre (ISTAR-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal. Scientic Prole: https://
2(2), 197e210. ciencia.iscte-iul.pt/public/person/agoa; Personal page: abiliooliveira.weebly.com
Wong, D. H., Loh, C., Yap, K. B., & Bak, R. (2009). To trust or not to trust: the con-
sumers Dilemma with E-banking. Journal of Internet Business, 6.
Wu, J., & Liu, D. (2007). The effects of trust and enjoyment on intention to play rio de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL),
Carlos J. Costa is an Assistant Professor at Instituto Universita
online games. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 8(2), 128. Lisboa, Portugal, and a Researcher at Information Sciences, Technologies and Archi-
Yang, J., Cheng, L., & Luo, X. (2009). A comparative study on e-banking services tecture Research Centre (ISTAR-IUL). He was invited professor in MSc Programs from
between China and USA. International Journal of Electronic Finance, 3(3), Portuguese Open University. Previously also worked in an IT consulting rm and in an
235e252. Investment Bank. His research interests are Collaborative Systems, ERP, Open Source
Yoon, S. J. (2002). The antecedents and consequences of trust in online-purchase and Robotics.
decisions. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 16(2), 47e63.