How to improve user engagement and retention in mobile payment: A gamification affordance perspective

Given the cut-throat competition in the Chinese mobile payment market, user retention is essential for guaranteeing the long-term profitability of mobile payment platforms. Meanwhile, gamification (i.e., the use of game artifacts applying game elements and principles) has been proposed as an effective way to foster mobile payment platform retention (i.e., users' deep-rooted commitment to a certain mobile payment platform). This study aims to provide a holistic understanding of gamification effects on mobile payment platform retention. Using a survey dataset from 447 Alipay users and an online scenario experiment of 1022 participants, we find that four gamified artifactual affordances (rewards, competition, feedback, and cooperation) positively affect user retention through the mediation effect of user engagement. Moreover, narrative affordance moderates the relationship between the four gamified artifactual affordances and user engagement. This study extends the affordances theory by theoretically conceptualizing gamified artifactual and situational affordances in the mobile payment context. This study also provides guidelines for mobile payment platform administrators and proposes avenues for future IS research.