Influence of gamification on user loyalty toward mobile applications

Competition for use of different mobile applications (apps) is intense. How to improve user loyalty to mobile apps is an urgent issue for enterprises to solve. Gamification has become an important means of attracting users’ attention to apps. In this study 357 participants completed a questionnaire assessing human–computer interaction, interpersonal interaction, perceived playfulness, user loyalty, and involvement with reference to the payment app Alipay and the game within it, Ant Farm. Structural equation modeling was performed and the results showed that both human–computer interaction and interpersonal interaction promoted perceived playfulness, which contributed to user loyalty. Finally, involvement played a positive role in the relationship between perceived playfulness and user loyalty.