Gamification in OTA platforms: A mixed-methods research involving online shopping carnival

Gamification implemented by online travel agencies (OTA) has been considered as a promising means for enhancing tourists' online shopping experience. However, there is limited understanding of the key gamification affordances valued by tourists and their underlying motivations for participating in gamified OTA platforms. Adopting a sequential mixed-methods research design, phase 1 of this research is a qualitative and interpretive study involving in-depth interviews and case analysis of OTA platforms. Based on the findings from phase 1 and relevant literature, this research builds a research model which is empirically validated by analyzing survey data in phase 2. Results reveal that the four key gamification affordances contribute to tourists’ diverse value perceptions on the OTA platform, which impact their purchase intention during the online shopping carnival. This study sheds light upon the emerging phenomenon of gamified technology use in the tourism context and provides valuable implications for designing appealing gamified OTA platforms.