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Improving individuals' low-carbon awareness has become an important research topic. Gamification design is regarded as a potential IT solution to this social problem. Although much research is concerned with the effect of low-carbon awareness to improve individuals' behaviour, little attention has been paid to exploring how to improve low-carbon awareness, especially in the context of green gamification. To fill this research gap, our study uses the cognitive dissonance theory to build a theoretical model for exploring the impacts of green gamification factors on individuals' low-carbon awareness. The model is also used to explore the mediating role of cognitive dissonance and the moderating effect of emotional dependence. Empirical results reveal that visibility of achievement, competition, and interactivity have positive impacts on users' cognitive dissonance, which further positively affect users' low-carbon awareness. In addition, users' emotional dependence positively moderates the relationship between green gamification factors and users' cognitive dissonance. These results extend the cognitive dissonance theory and the literature on green gamification. New insights and practical implications for the designers of gamification application and environmental protection organisations are also provided in our study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Gamification design is considered an effective way of changing users' health behavior and improving their health management performance. Even though numerous studies have investigated the positive effect of gamification competition on users, little research has considered gamification's ineffectiveness and negative effects. In particular, how gamification competition affects users' technological exhaustion remains unclear. Design/methodology/approach: According to flow theory and related research on gamification, this study discusses the nonlinear relationship between gamification competition and users' technological exhaustion. Furthermore, the authors analyze the moderating effect of user type (socializers and achievers) and users' health condition on this nonlinear relationship. Based on flow theory, the authors propose a series of research hypotheses. To test all research hypotheses, the authors collected information from 407 users via a questionnaire as the data for this study. Findings: The empirical results found a U-shaped relationship between gamification competition and technological exhaustion. Technological exhaustion gradually decreases as competition increases until reaching the lowest point; after that, technological exhaustion gradually increases as competition increases. Further, being a socializer and health condition play a moderating role in the U-shaped relationship between competition and technological exhaustion. Originality/value: This study's findings not only enrich the related research in flow theory and gamification, but also contribute to the effective design of gamification in health management platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to improve users' health management performance is an important challenge for practitioners of digital health platforms. Gamification is considered a potential method to encourage individuals to engage in health management and improve the level of their health management performance. To better understand the role of gamification in the health management context, this study investigates the influence of the achievement mechanism on the health management performance, as well as the moderating effects of social network and health condition. This study collected 1554 users' data (54.4% female and 45.6% male, age: 18–35) from an online health community in China and built a regression model combined with the U test estimation algorithm to examine the research hypotheses. The results of the empirical model show an inverted-U relationship exists between level of achievement and the level of health management performance. Moreover, our research shows that the size of the social network and the health condition negatively moderate the inverted-U relationship. These findings facilitate an understanding of the role of gamification in the health management context. Further, the study contributes to goal setting theory and provides new insights and suggestions for users and designers of health management platforms and online health communities. • We built a regression model combined with the U test estimation algorithm. • We find an inverted-U relationship exists between achievement and performance. • The size of the social network negatively moderates the inverted-U relationship. • Individuals' health condition diminishes the inverted-U relationship. • This paper facilitates an understanding of gamification in health management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study investigates the role of goal, achievement, and social network in the performance of weight management. • We find that a U-shaped relationship exists between goal difficulty and the level of weight management performance. • Achievement incentives have a positive effect on performance and partially moderate the effect of goal difficulty. • Social network exposure strengthens the U-shaped relationship between goal difficulty and performance. • Active interaction in social networks positively moderates the relationship between achievement incentives and performance. 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]