Informational vs. Controlling Gamification: A Study Design

Recent research suggests that gamification has the potential to increase intrinsic motivation, as well as decrease users’ intrinsic motivation. However, the understanding of why gamification sometimes is successful and other times not, is still not fully understood. One reason for this is that applied research has been lacking a theoretical foundation. Therefore, we are currently designing a study in which we examine the underlying psychological mechanisms on how gamification works. Based on self determination theory, in our approach we compare how autonomy, competence and intrinsic motivation differ between an informational and a controlling condition.