Gamification of ERP Systems – Exploring Gamification Effects on User Acceptance Constructs

The adoption of game mechanics into serious contexts such as business applications (gamification) is a promising trend to improve the user’s participation and engagement with the software in question and on the job. However, this topic is mainly driven by practitioners. A theoretical model for gamification with appropriate empirical validation is missing. In this paper, we introduce a prototype for gamification using SAP ERP as example. Moreover, we have evaluated the concept within a comprehensive user study with 112 participants based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) using partial least squares (PLS) for analysis. Finally, we show that this gamification approach yields significant improvements in latent variables such as enjoyment, flow or perceived ease of use. Moreover, we outline further research requirements in the domain of gamification.