Gamification in personal health record systems: a regulatory fit perspective

It has been known that individuals' regulatory focus differences (prevention orientation or promotion orientation) influence health-related behaviors. However, in the gamification literature, when classical and gamified applications are discussed, the gain frame is predominantly included, whereas the loss frame is not sufficiently considered. In this study, individuals' evaluations of gamified and non-gamified personal health record systems with different frames were examined.

A 2 (type of personal health record system application: gamified vs. non-gamified) X 2 (frame: gain vs. loss) between-subject design was implemented, and users' regulatory foci were tested in this study. We predicted that systems that are gamified and aligned with users' regulatory foci will be evaluated more favorably than systems that are not aligned with users' regulatory foci.

Contrary to what the gamification literature suggests, we found that individuals do not always prefer gamified systems over non-gamified ones. Participants' regulatory focus might play a crucial role in their attitudes toward gamified platforms.

The findings might contribute to the design of personal health record systems by bearing the individual motivational differences of users in mind.