Fostering engagement: How gamification affordances shape tourists’ repatronage through self-enhancement and self-transcendence

Abstract

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have increasingly been embedding game design elements into their digital platforms. Yet the effectiveness of gamification and the mechanisms linking these gamification affordances to tourists’ repatronage remain underexplored in the literature. This study draws on self-determination theory and social presence theory to examine how gamification affordances (autonomy support, self-expression, interactivity, and competition) shape customer brand engagement and repatronage intentions. Additionally, this research investigates the mediating roles of self-enhancement and self-transcendence between gamification affordances and marketing outcomes; we further examine whether the frequency of access to gamification serves as a moderator. We collected data from 480 tourists who had used gamified OTA platforms, which we analysed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The results show that gamification affordances increase cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement, which in turn drives repatronage intention via self-enhancement and self-transcendence. Moreover, we find that access frequency to gamification moderates several of these relationships. The study extends self-determination and social presence theories to gamified tourism contexts and offers OTA managers practical guidance for designing gamification strategies that deepen engagement and sustain repeat patronage.