Perceptions of virtual reward systems in crowdsourcing games

The gaming approach to crowdsourcing is a major way to foster engagement and sustained participation. Also known as crowdsourcing games, players contribute their effort to tackle problems and receive enjoyment in return. As in any game, a fundamental mechanism in crowdsourcing games is its virtual reward system. This paper investigates how virtual reward systems evoke intrinsic motivation, perceived enjoyment and output quality in the context of crowdsourcing games. Three mobile applications for crowdsourcing location-based content were developed for an experimental study. The Track version offered a points-based reward system for actions such as contribution of content. The Badge version offered different badges for collection while the Share version served as a control which did not have any virtual reward system. For each application, participants performed a series of tasks after which a questionnaire survey was administered. Results showed that Badge and Track enhanced enjoyment emotionally, cognitively and behaviorally. They also increased perceptions of the quality of outputs when compared to Share. As well, they better satisfied the motivational needs for autonomy and competence than Share. Interestingly, there were also significant differences in how Badge and Track were perceived.