游戏化助推开放式创新平台用户参与

Gamification Nudges User Engagement on Open Innovation Platforms

创新活动从传统的仅由企业主导的模式转向用户共同参与的开放式创新模式,开放式创新平台通过耦合创新需求端和用户创新供给端,扩大了创新源。然而目前开放式创新活动却面临用户参与度严重不足的问题,如何通过管理设计增加用户参与成为管理者和研究者共同关注的重要现实问题。本研究提出,游戏化理论中的奖励和竞合机制的有效组合能够促进用户参与开放式创新。本文以全球最大的数据科学开放式创新竞赛平台Kaggle为研究对象,探究奖励与竞合机制的交互作用对开放式创新用户参与行为的影响。结果表明,奖励金额对用户参与有正向影响;奖项数量减弱奖励金额对用户参与的影响;限制团队人数降低奖励金额对用户参与的影响;是否限制后期团队合并对用户参与行为无显著影响。本研究将游戏化理论引入开放式创新管理领域,完善创新管理领域的理论积累,为开放式创新活动发起者和管理者增加用户参与提供了奖励设计和活动组织管理方面的实践指导。

Innovation activities have transformed from the traditional firm-driven type to the user co-creation type. Open innovation platforms couple the innovation demands of enterprises and the supply of users’ innovation ability, and strive to make the source of innovation fully surging. However, the degree of user-engagement is severely insufficient. So, it is important both theoretically and practically to find out how to design an open innovation platform mechanism that can enhance user engagement. We propose that gamification design might facilitate user engagement. Based on the evidence from the world’s largest data science open innovation platform, Kaggle, this study explores the impact of reward and coopetition on user engagement behaviors and reaches the following conclusions.(1) The amount of reward money has a positive impact on user engagement;(2) the number of prizes negatively moderates the impact of reward quantity on user engagement;(3) restricting team size negatively moderates the impact of reward quantity on user engagement;and(4) banning team merger in the later stage does not affect user engagement. The current research enriches the theoretical accumulation in the field of innovation management, and provides practical implications for open innovation sponsors and managers to design rewards and organize activities in order to enhance user engagement.