User Participation under a Points-Based Incentive System: A Case Study of Taobao

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_16How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Point System; User Behavior; Taobao; Incentive Mechanism; User Engagement

Abstract

The research examined point-based incentives associated with Taobao and how they affect user behavior differentiated by user groups. The existing literature highlights that digital rewards have been effective in enhancing user engagement in the short run, but have not incorporated user heterogeneity nor offered insights into the psychological mechanisms that can account for behavioral change. This research illustrated that digital rewards can be understood through self-determination theory, user experience design research, and behavioral economics, and through qualitative research explored motivational and behavioral specificity within a sample of long-term users of Taobao. Using a semi-structured interview format, four long-term users of Taobao were interviewed and revealed a range of user engagement pathways. More specifically, some users were able to internalize the gamified incentives into their loyalty towards the platform, while some users were less engaged, with rather passive engagement without much interplay with the opportune redemption of gamified incentives. The moderating factors that were identified were: the type of reward, the rules clarity, and the feedback rhythm. This study was further able to show that the effectiveness of the incentive could also be differentiated by demographic profiles and motivational fit. Finally, this study contributed to the incentive design theory literature by identifying differentiated user profiles, and offered an avenue for project managers to be mindful of in managing adaptive and sustainable reward systems in the digital commerce context.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yunlong Li
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/06
TI  - User Participation under a Points-Based Incentive System: A Case Study of Taobao
BT  - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Internet Finance and Digital Economy (ICIFDE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 163
EP  - 171
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_16
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_16
ID  - Li2025
ER  -